Treatment of experimental autoimmune dacryoadenitis with cyclosporin A.
Experimental autoimmune dacryoadenitis (EAD) was induced in SJL/J mice by a single injection of purified lacrimal gland antigen (LG-Ag) in complete Freund's adjuvant. The disease is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the lacrimal gland and production of lacrimal gland-specific antibodies. We examined the effects of cyclosporin A (CsA) on the development and progression of this inflammatory disease. CsA (100 mg/kg/day), given from the time of immunization for 14 days, completely blocked the development of EAD in all treated mice. Both cellular and humoral immune responses to LG-Ag were markedly reduced by the administration of CsA as evidenced by the near absence of lymphocyte proliferative response and the reduced production of circulating anti-LG-Ag antibodies. Delayed CsA treatment beginning on Day 7 after immunization totally abrogated the development of lacrimal histological lesions and lymphocyte proliferative response to LG-Ag. However, serum anti-LG-Ag titers were only marginally decreased in CsA-treated animals. Treatment with CsA was found effective even when daily injections were started 14 days after immunization with LG-Ag. CsA prevented the inflammatory cell response in 5 of 10 mice when the disease was established. The lymphocyte proliferative response to LG-Ag was moderately depressed in CsA-treated animals, but antibody titers were the same as those in the oil-treated control. These studies demonstrate that CsA has a therapeutic effect in this murine model of dacryoadenitis and suggest a critical role for T lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of EAD.
Liu
S H
SH
Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205.
Zhou
D H
DH
Gottsch
J D
JD
Hess
A D
AD
D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003607:Dacryocystitis / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D007114:Immunization; D007765:Lacrimal Apparatus / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D013997:Time Factors
D000906:Antibodies; D016572:Cyclosporine