Immune Inhibition of Mycoplasma pneumoniae

Summary Several immune mechanisms of inhibition develop during the course of immunization of rabbits with Mycoplasma pneumoniae. A nonlytic complement-mediated immune inhibition was demonstrable in sera collected early in the immune response. A lytic mechanism, dependent upon a heat labile factor, was demonstrable only with sera collected late in the immunization. The presence of an immune inhibitory activity not dependent on a heat labile accessory factor was also detected in the latter sera. This study was supported by Grants U.S. Public Health Service 5 R01 AI 09002 and NSF GB 4778. The results of this study were presented in part at the 1971 annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Minneapolis, MN.