Pulmonary granulomas caused experimentally in mice by a recombinant trigger-factor protein of Propionibacterium acnes.
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.
Minami
Junko
J
Department of Human Pathology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
Eishi
Yoshinobu
Y
Ishige
Yuki
Y
Kobayashi
Intetsu
I
Ishige
Ikuo
I
Kobayashi
Daisuke
D
Ando
Noboru
N
Uchida
Keisuke
K
Ikeda
Satoshi
S
Sorimachi
Noriko
N
Karasuyama
Hajime
H
Takemura
Tamiko
T
Takizawa
Touichiro
T
Koike
Morio
M
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
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C484918:trigger-factor protein, Propionibacterium acnes; D005620:Freund's Adjuvant