CELLULAR TRANSFER OF TUBERCULIN HYPERSENSITIVITY

It was shown by Chase,¹ Cummings² and others³ that acquired tuberculin hypersensitivity in guinea pigs cannot be transferred to normal animals by intradermal injection of serum from a hypersensitive donor. Successful transfer, however, is possible by intracutaneous injection of leukocytes isolated from peritoneal exudates of the same donor. It was concluded from this that cells, rather than serum antibodies, are the prime mediators of tuberculin type hypersensitivity.

To determine whether the same cellular transfer is possible in man Lawrence of Bellevue Hospital, New York City,⁴ isolated viable leukocytes from the venous blood of tuberculin-positive and tuberculin-negative patients. He injected suspensions of these leukocytes intradermally into the flexor surface of the forearms of tuberculin-negative volunteers. After an interval of eighteen to forty-eight hours the reaction at the site of the injection was made by an intradermal injection of 0.1 cc. of old tuberculin.

To obtain the leukocytes