The elimination of primed antibody‐forming cells and memory cells was examined in Sprague‐Dawley rats after the application of cyclophosphamide. Doses of cyclophosphamide, which completely eliminate virgin sheep red blood cell‐(SRBC)‐specific competent cells, still permit the survival of a fraction of primed cells. In animals devoid of primed cells it is possible to establish SRBC‐specific tolerance upon cyclophosphamide treatment. When SRBC‐primed rats are treated with the drug and subsequently exposed to the antigen, the surviving primed cells are stimulated to proliferation and antibody production, whereas tolerance appears to be induced in the competent cells, which regenerate from the stem cell compartment.

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