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Data are presented demonstrating the prevention of spontaneous autoimmune disease in NZB/Swiss mice treated natural double-stranded RNA. The successful treatment of animals was followed both by improvement in clinical manifestations and by the migration inhibition test performed with DNA as antigen. The reasons for the successful employment of natural double-stranded RNA are thought to be in its physicochemical properties.

In NZB mice of different ages (2, 4, 8, 12, and 16 months) the positivity of the migration inhibition test performed with the ds-DNA in spleen explants was compared with the level of immunofluorescent antinuclear antibodies and the incidence of glomerulonephritis. The positivity of the MIT was apparent at 4 months of age, rose with ageing and decreased after 12 months of age. Production of ANA began later, mostly at 8 months of age, increased progressively with ageing, especially in female mice, and was followed by the development of glomerulonephritis which reached its peak at 16 months of age.

A correlation was made between the severity of clinical symptoms of SLE and the results of the migration inhibitory factor (MIF) production test. For this purpose 10 patients with various manifestations of SLE were examined by MIF production test before and after the immunosuppressive therapy. A good correlation between the actual clinical stage and the results of the MIF production test was found. The successful immunosuppressive therapy turned the positive MIF production into the negative one in most of the observed patients. The MIF production test is therefore recommended as a good complementary test for the estimation of the actual state of the SLE.