ABSTRACT
Both antibody responses and cell-mediated responses cycle in a similar fashion. The periodic activity of T helper cells, T killer cells, and T suppressor cells, after a single administration of antigen, follows a pattern quite similar to the cycling of both T dependent and T independent antibody responses. The antigen-independent, idiotype-mediated triggering of specific antibody response was first demonstrated by Eichmann et al. The frequency and the duration of cycling and its damping is an inherent property of the response because it depends on the network connections of the given clone of immunocytes, i.e., the size of the circuit to which the clone belongs and how it is linked with the rest of the network. The network concept states that the idiotypic cellular interaction(s) is the fundamental mechanism behind the oscillation of immune response, whereas other mechanisms that have been associated with cycling play various supporting roles.
