In vitro lympholysis in peripheral blood of percutaneously sensitized guinea pigs.

The present study is an attempt to obtain information on the behavior of lymphocytes in guinea pigs with eczematous hypersensitivity when the lymphocytes are brought into contact with antigen in vitro. Unexpectedly, it was observed that some of the peripheral lymphocytes of 2 ,4-dinitro-1-chlorobenzene (DNCB) sensitized guinea pigs lyse "spontaneously" in vitro, and that the lysis is inhibited by the addition of DNCB solution. This phenomenon is somewhat similar to that observed by Polak (1) in his study of pentoneal exudate cells of DNCB-sensitized guinea pigs. Further experiments showed that lysis does not depend on specific cell-bound factors in lymphocytes, but on some factors in the serum of DNCB-sensitized guinea pigs.