TRAPANI 



ANTIBODY DECAY 



Figure 8. lielationship of antibody production and antibody decay to the net immune 

 response. 



Some of the complexities of the physiological relationships which 

 might pertain to the immune response of animals exposed to environ- 

 mental extremes or endocrine imbalance can be derived from Figure 

 7. For example, cold exposed animals exhibit a decreased immune 

 response, as measured by circulating precipitating antibody. This 

 may be the result of a) an unchanged rate of production associated 

 with the increased rate of decay, b) a decreased rate of production 

 associated with an increased rate of decay, or c) an increased rate 

 of production which is not of sufficient magnitude to offset the in- 

 creased rate of decay. 



Figures presents a theoretical relationship between antibody pro- 

 duction and decay. If production and decay are "balanced" against 

 each other, we then arrive at the line labeled "control". If we now 

 manipulate the animals' physiology so that antibody production or 

 decay is altered, it is possible to arrive at a net response which 

 is either increased or decreased. If production and decay are altered 

 to the same degree and in the same direction, the net response could 

 still fall on the control line, and the observation would be no net 

 change in response. As a consequence, the actual alteration would 

 be obscured in this test system, and other avenues would have to be 

 explored to arrive at a more definitive answer. 



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