Spontaneous development of organ-specific autoimmune lesions in aged C57BL/6 mice.
We have shown that spontaneously occurring, organ-specific autoimmune lesions develop in aged C57BL/6 mice of both sexes, especially in 24-month-old senescent mice. The inflammatory lesions were found in the multiple organs such as salivary gland, kidney, pancreas, lung, and liver, associated with ageing process. Organ-specific autoimmune lesions first appeared in 6-month-old C57BL/6 mice, and were aggravated with advancing age. In contrast, significant inflammatory changes did not develop in the thyroid, stomach, testis, ovary, and prostate in aged C57BL/6 mice. The incidence and severity of organ-specific autoimmune lesions in this strain of non-autoimmune mice increase with advance of age. The most severely affected lesion was sialadenitis developed in the submandibular salivary gland of aged mice, and a significant difference between male and female mice was noted only in the salivary gland. The infiltrating cells within the lesions of multiple organs consisted mainly of Thy 1.2+ and L3T4+ cells. Autoantibodies were detected in the sera of the mice with each corresponding organ-specific autoimmune lesions.
Hayashi
Y
Y
Department of Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Japan.
Utsuyama
M
M
Kurashima
C
C
Hirokawa
K
K
D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006520:Hepatitis, Animal / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL / Q000276:immunology*; D009393:Nephritis / Q000276:immunology; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000276:immunology; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000276:immunology; D012793:Sialadenitis / Q000276:immunology; D013363:Submandibular Gland / Q000473:pathology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology
D001323:Autoantibodies