The Role of the Afferent Lymph in the Induction of Contact Sensitivity

Since it is known that destruction of the afferent lymph pathway can prevent the induction of contact sensitivity by skin painting the lymph must contain some essential element. In earlier experiments on pigs (McFarlin 1973) lymph was collected following skin painting with DNFB. Whole lymph was infused into an afferent lymphatic in a normal animal and shown to be capable of inducing contact sensitivity. In the experiments reported here pigs were painted with 50 microlitres of a 10% solution of DNFB in a mixture of equal parts of acetone and DMSO, a dose which was sufficient to sensitise the majority of animals.