Prevention of Myeloma Growth in BALB/c Mice by Injection of Anti-Immunoglobulin Antisera

Data presented here establish that neonatally initiated anti-Ig (anti-α or anti-µ) treatment of BALB/c mice provides them with complete, class-specific protection against subsequent challenge with the corresponding transplantable myeloma. The class-specific nature of protection indicates that the effect is due to anti-Ig antibodies per se and not to any possible contaminants of anti-plasmacyte antibodies. In addition to protection from IgM myeloma growth, the rigorous schedule of anti-µ suppression used in these studies effected complete and stable loss of both serum IgM and serum IgA. A similar schedule of anti-α suppression resulted in complete protection from the IgA myeloma but did allow serum IgA, the only Ig affected by this antiserum, to recover to normal levels. The significance of these observations is discussed.