The goldfish immune response. II. Thymic influence on allograft rejection

New assays must be attempted to ascertain the influence of thymus in fish alloimmunity. Some immunosuppressive drugs can effectively be used to prolong allograft survival in fish although near lethal doses are only effective. The precise nature of drug action remains unclear. In two teleostean species, strong irradiation doses produce longer graft survival. The present paper describes the influence of different X-ray irradiation doses on scale allograft rejection in goldfish. The authors demonstrated that doses of 10 Gy and 20 Gy significantly delayed the onset of allograft rejection. These modifications were suppressed when the thymic areas were shielded during irradiation.