Studies in Experimental Eosinophilia. II. Induction of Peritoneal Eosinophilia by the Transfer of Tissues and Tissue Extracts

Tissues taken from one guinea pig were transferred into the peritoneal cavity of another, and the total number of peritoneal eosinophils in the recipient was determined 24 hours after transfer. Peritoneal eosinophilia resulted in the recipients when peritoneal lining, lungs, blood or serum were taken from an animal previously prepared by repeated injections of foreign protein and transferred along with some of the same protein. With lung, but not with peritoneal lining, some eosinophil responses were noted when the protein used to prepare the donor was omitted, and when either the donor or recipient was a normal animal.

Extracts of peritoneal lining or lung also induced peritoneal eosinophilia. Isolated instances of activity occurred in extracts of normal tissues, but most of the positive responses were induced when extracts from animals previously prepared with foreign protein were accompanied by the same protein.

Eosinophilotactic activity remained inside dialysis bags. It was stable to 56 C. for ½ hour, 4 C. for 24 hours, and -5 C. for two days. The activity disappeared with the removal of trichloracetic acid-precipitable material.

These experiments support the view that eosinophilia may occur in the absence of actively acquired antibody, and that an eosinophilotactic mechanism may be passively transferred from one guinea pig to another.