Abstract
The administration of a single bolus of anti-IgM antibody to foetal lambs early in pregnancy produces prolonged B-cell depletion. The present study investigated this depletion by examining the effect, on B-cell development in the ileal Peyer's patches, of varying the timing and dosage of antibody administration and by supplementing anti-IgM with surgical splenectomy. The capacity of a 1 mg bolus of anti-IgM to deplete Peyer's patches of B cells was lost if its administration was deferred until two thirds of the way through pregnancy, but persisted beyond this time if weight-adjusted doses were used. Splenectomy of the foetus performed at an earlier age failed to extend the age at which a 1 mg dose of antibody remained effective. As the concentration of murine immunoglobulin in foetal serum was greatly reduced after 21 days, it is inferred that ongoing suppression of B-cell development is not dependent on the continued presence of murine immunoglobulin. The enduring nature of suppression could be attributable to a limited period during which differentiation of B cells from stem cells normally occurs, although further studies will be needed to investigate this and other possible explanations for the effect of anti-IgM treatment on prenatal B-cell development in sheep.