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The simian-type blood group specificity Drh of rhesus monkeys, first described in 1967, has been proved to be the keystone of a rhesus monkey blood group system, holding a position comparable to that of Rho in the Rh-Hr system. Unlike the Rh-Hr system, however, it does not react well by the ficinated red cell technique and it includes a series of antigens giving graded reactions comparable to those of the human A1-A2 subgroups. The antigens of the Drh system appear to be the most strongly immunogenic, and are thus of greatest importance for the experimental use of these animals, such as in transplantation and blood transfusion.

Cynomolgus monkey spleen cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes were tested for their ability to produce interleukin 2 (IL 2) upon stimulation with phytomitogens. By assessing proliferation of murine IL 2-dependent cells, maximal release of IL 2 activity was found in the supernatants of nonadherent cells cultured for 48 h, after stimulation with 25 micrograms/ml concanavalin A. Addition of phorbol myristate acetate to the cultures resulted in enhancement of IL 2 production, but there was no significant promotion when indomethacin or human lymphoblastoid cell lines were added to the cultures. Adherent macrophages appeared to inhibit rather than enhance IL 2 production in this system. Monkey IL 2 exhibited a molecular weight in the range of 15,000-18,000 daltons in Sephadex G-100 gel chromatography.

The paper describes a rhesus monkey serum antigen (D1) which is controlled by a dominant gene (D1), independent from those controlling A1, B1 and C1, which are three low-density lipoprotein markers.

Three rhesus monkey allotypes are described, which are located on distinct low density lipoprotein molecules. These three markers have been detected using double immunodiffusion in agar. They are inherited in a simple Mendelian manner and controlled by three independent genes.