Induction of unresponsiveness of antigen-specific T lymphocytes by oral administration of cedar pollen extract in mice.
T lymphocyte unresponsiveness, induced in mice by a single gastric intubation of 0.2 ml cedar pollen extract (CPE, containing 4 micrograms protein/ml)/mouse daily for 3 to 28 consecutive days, was evaluated by the absence of a proliferative response of popliteal lymph node (PLN) T lymphocytes to CPE in vitro. T lymphocyte unresponsiveness increased with the period of gastric intubation of CPE and reached more than 80% of the control on day 28. The unresponsiveness to CPE was antigen-specific and T lymphocyte-mediated. In vitro CPE-specific T lymphocyte proliferation was significantly suppressed by intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) and hepatic mononuclear cells (MNCs), but not by spleen cells or PLN T lymphocytes from mice fed CPE for 28 days. The effector activity of IELs and MNCs was obviously antigen-specific. These results suggest that lymphocytes in the intestine and liver of mice fed CPE would be involved in the induction and maintenance of CPE-specific T lymphocyte unresponsiveness.
Kohama
Y
Y
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, Japan.
Tone
H
H
Moriyama
K
K
Arai
S
S
Takae
S
S
Tsujikawa
K
K
Mimura
T
T
D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology; D007441:Intubation, Gastrointestinal; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011058:Pollen / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*