Thirty-two calves were studied to determine the effects of level of nutrition (400 and 1000 g (air-dry matter) milk substitute per d) and age at weaning (5, 9 and 13 weeks) on humoral immune responses measured in serum and bronchoalveolar washings (BAW). All calves were immunized with Keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH) at 3 weeks of age, and with horse erythrocytes (HRBC) 1 d after weaning. Feedi...

Although passively administered antibodies are known to suppress the humoral immune response, the mechanism is not fully understood. Here, we developed a mathematical model to better understand the suppression phenomena in mice. Using this model, we tested the generally accepted but difficult to prove "epitope masking hypothesis." To simulate the hypothesis and clearly observe masking of epitop...

In many diseases (e.g. autoimmune diseases, cancer), a humoral immune response is thought to be involved; therefore, identifying relevant antigens that trigger the humoral immune response is at the heart of current approaches for discovering biomarkers and designing therapeutic strategies. Although immunoblotting and protein array have been used for antigen profiling in several diseases, with t...

Humanized mice historically have not been good models of human humoral immunity induced by either infection or immunization. However, newer versions of humanized mice generated in severely immunodeficient mice with a targeted disruption of the IL2Rγc gene have recently been reported to produce antigen-specific class-switched human antibodies, with some demonstrating neutralizing activities. Her...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the humoral immune response to the pre-exposure schedule of human rabies vaccination through intradermal and intramuscular routes, as well as the need for serological monitoring. METHODS A randomized and controlled intervention study was carried out in São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, from 2004-2005. There were 149 volunteers, of which 127 completed the vaccination schedu...