Suppression of B cell development and antibody responses in mice with polyclonal rabbit and monoclonal rat anti-IgM antibodies. I. Characterization of the suppressed state.

Mice treated from birth with polyclonal, crude or affinity purified rabbit or monoclonal rat anti-mouse IgM antibodies [b-7-6 and C-2-23: Eur. J. Immunol. 14: 753-757, 1984] were found to be heavily suppressed with respect to B-cell activities. Crude or affinity purified rabbit or monoclonal rat anti-mouse IgM gave comparable results as follows: serum IgM was below detectable levels; serum IgG was reduced to about 1-3% of normal levels; free anti-IgM was always detectable; IgM and/or kappa-light-chain positive cells as well as IgM-secreting cells were absent in various lymphoid organs; the B-cell mitogen lipopolysaccharide was unable to induce proliferative responses; primary antibody responses could not be induced against sheep red blood cells and phosphorylcholine; lymphoid organs were reduced in size and B-cell areas were not populated with lymphocytes; besides a 40% reduction in absolute lymphocyte numbers in the blood, we found increased platelet counts and a 10% eosinophilia in anti-IgM-treated mice.