Adoptively transferred experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) was significantly augmented in Lewis rats with ablated sympathetic nervous system. Sympathectomy was obtained by treatment of newborn rats with 6-hydroxydopamine. Sham-injected rats were used as a control. EAE was elicited in 7-8-week-old donor Lewis rats by immunization with a suspension of guinea pig (GP) brain and spinal cord in complete Freund's adjuvant. Successful transfer of EAE was accomplished with 50 x 10(6) lymph node cells (LNC)/rat, incubated for 72 h with GP myelin basic protein. LNC were obtained from draining lymph nodes, 9 days after immunization for EAE. The severity of passively transferred EAE was significantly augmented when donor LNC obtained from normal Lewis rats immunized for EAE were injected into sympathectomized rats as compared to sham-injected rats. When LNC were obtained from sympathectomized or sham-injected donors, the disease was significantly more severe in recipients of cells from sympathectomized animals. The severity of histological lesions in the brain and spinal cord was greater in rats with passively transferred EAE which received LNC from sympathectomized donors.