Failure of Cellular Transfer of Tuberculin Sensitivity between Guinea Pigs of Different Strains

Abstract

THE passive transfer of tuberculin hypersensitivity from one guinea pig to another by the systemic injection of lymphoid cells was first described by Chase¹. Since this time workers have attempted to transfer tuberculin sensitivity from one species to another, without success². In this investigation an attempt was made to transfer tuberculin sensitivity between two strains of guinea pig of different origin; the Hartley Strain maintained as a closed colony since 1922 at the National Institute for Medical Research, London, and the Strain II of Sewall Wright, obtained from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Strain II has been maintained by brother and sister mating for more than a 50-year period³, and shows complete intrastrain histocompatibility⁴. The Hartley Strain has been maintained by random breeding and shows little histocompatibility⁵.