Strain-dependent effect of nasal instillation of antigen on the immune response in mice.
BACKGROUND
Nasal instillation is an effective method for inducing antigen-specific immune tolerance. However, it is not clear how a tolerization scheme established in one mouse strain will perform when used in a mouse of a different haplotype.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the antigen-specific recall responses in four mouse strains--BALB/c, C57BL/6, NOD, and B10.PL--that were pretreated nasally with 50 micrograms of hen egg-white lysozyme prior to parenteral immunization with homologous antigen.


METHODS
Mice were nasally treated with a prototype antigen, HEL, and then immunized with the same antigen emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant. Spleens and lymph nodes were assayed for T cell proliferation measured by tritiated thymidine incorporation. Cytokine production was measured using ELISPOT assay. Serum antibody response to HEL was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


RESULTS
Proliferative recall responses to HEL in B10.PL, C57BL/6, and BALB/c were greatly reduced compared to control mice, but non-obese diabetic mice were resistant to the tolerization regime. Despite their susceptibility to nasally induced suppression, the mechanisms responsible for tolerance induction differed in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings demonstrate that while mucosal contacts with specific antigen consistently affect the outcome of subsequent exposure to the same antigen, the observed response will vary non-predictably, depending on the genetic background of the animal.
Melo
Marco E F
ME
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. eli@liai.org
Gabaglia
Claudia Raja
CR
Moudgil
Kamal D
KD
Sercarz
Eli E
EE
Quinn
Anthony
A
D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal / Q000276:immunology; D007114:Immunization / Q000379:methods*; D007322:Instillation, Drug; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D016688:Mice, Inbred NOD / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D009113:Muramidase / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009297:Nasal Mucosa; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D000939:Epitopes; C421864:hen egg lysozyme; D009113:Muramidase