The Transfer of Allergic Thyroiditis in Histocompatible Guinea Pigs by Lymph Node Cells

Strain 13 histocompatible guinea pigs were immunized with thyroid extract in Freund's complete adjuvant. Their lymph node cells were harvested and transferred intraperitoneally to recipient experimental strain 13 animals and to control Hartley guinea pigs. Twenty-eight per cent of the recipient strain 13 guinea pigs developed allergic thyroiditis, whereas only 4% of the Hartley strain developed the disease. These studies indicate that allergic thyroiditis may be transferred from immunized donors to histocompatible recipients by adoptive immunity.