title: The postnatal maternal environment affects autoimmune disease susceptibility in A/J mice.
abstract: The postnatal maternal environment is known to increase susceptibility to a number of autoimmune diseases. Here we asked whether the postnatal maternal environment could influence autoimmune disease development to day 3 thymectomy (d3tx)-induced autoimmune ovarian disease (AOD) and experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in cross-fostered A/J and B6 mice. A/J pups foster-nursed by B6 mothers exhibit an increase in autoimmune disease development while cross-fostering B6 pups on A/J mothers did not alter their susceptibility. The increase in AOD incidence seen in foster-nursed d3tx A/J mice correlated with a decrease in the total number of CD4(+) T cells in the lymph nodes of these animals. Analysis of the cellular composition in the milk revealed that B6 mice shed significantly more maternally derived lymphocytes into their milk compared to A/J mothers. These data suggest that there are maternally derived postnatal factors that influence the development of autoimmune disease in A/J mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Laure K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Case
authors.forename: Roxana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Del Rio
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Bonney
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Zachary
authors.forename: Elizabeth P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Blankenhorn
authors.forename: Kenneth S K
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Tung
authors.forename: Cory
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Teuscher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000276:immunology*; D000833:Animals, Suckling / Q000276:immunology*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D054360:Chemokine CXCL1 / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000276:immunology*; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D007112:Immunity, Maternally-Acquired / Q000276:immunology; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000378:metabolism; D016906:Interleukin-9 / Q000378:metabolism; D007774:Lactation / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D010049:Ovarian Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D013934:Thymectomy
chemical_list: D054360:Chemokine CXCL1; C475895:Cxcl1 protein, mouse; D016207:Cytokines; D018793:Interleukin-13; D016906:Interleukin-9