Increased frequency of rheumatoid factor precursor B lymphocytes after immunization of normal adults with tetanus toxoid
Welch, M.J.; Fong, S.; Vaughan, J.; Carson, D.
Clinical and Experimental Immunology 51(2): 299-304
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0009-9104 PMID: 6601551 Document Number: 209331
Vaccination of normal adults with tetanus toxoid induced a two-three-fold rise in the frequency of IgM anti-IgG (rheumatoid factor, RF) B lymphocytes inducible by the polyclonal B cell activator, Epstein-Barr virus. The increase in IgM-RF precursors occurred earlier, was greater in magnitude, and was more sustained than the change in plasma IgM-RF. It was associated with a rise in total IgM levels, and correlated positively with the magnitude of the IgG anti-tetanus antibody response, but not with levels of circulating immune complexes. The ability of apparently innocuous infections and immunizations to increase the frequency of IgM-RF precursor B lymphocytes may be the reason for the previously noted expansion in this autoreactive B cell pool between birth and adulthood.