title: Pulmonary granulomas caused experimentally in mice by a recombinant trigger-factor protein of Propionibacterium acnes.
abstract: Etiology of sarcoidosis remains unknown. A trigger factor from Propionibacterium acnes causes a cellular immune response in some sarcoid patients but not in nonsarcoid subjects. We examined whether experimentally induced hypersensitivity to the trigger factor gives rise to granulomas. Female C57BL/6 mice primed intravenously with P. acnes or not were sensitized with recombinant-protein RP35, a fragment of P. acnes trigger factor, and complete Freund's adjuvant. In controls, RP35 was replaced with P. acnes or one of two control proteins. In primed and unprimed mice, pulmonary granulomas were found in some of the mice sensitized with RP35 or P. acnes but in no control-protein-sensitized mice. Detection of pulmonary granulomas (25-57%) did not differ significantly between mice sensitized with RP35 or P. acnes, primed or not. No difference in popliteal lymph-node-cell reactivity and serum antibodies to these two antigens was found between mice with and without pulmonary granulomas. P. acnes was cultured from the lungs of 8 (33%) of 24 untreated mice. The recombinant trigger-factor protein of P. acnes caused pulmonary granulomas in primed and unprimed mice sensitized with the protein and adjuvant. Sarcoid granulomas may form during hypersensitivity to antigens of P. acnes indigenous to the affected organ.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Pathology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Eishi
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishige
authors.forename: Intetsu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ishige
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sorimachi
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karasuyama
authors.forename: Tamiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takemura
authors.forename: Touichiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takizawa
authors.forename: Morio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koike
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005620:Freund's Adjuvant / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006099:Granuloma / Q000382:microbiology; D015769:Granuloma, Respiratory Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology; D007114:Immunization; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D011425:Propionibacterium acnes / Q000276:immunology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D017565:Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary / Q000382:microbiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C484918:trigger-factor protein, Propionibacterium acnes; D005620:Freund's Adjuvant