Intestinal mast cell levels control severity of oral antigen-induced anaphylaxis in mice.

Abstract

Food-triggered anaphylaxis can encompass a variety of symptoms that affect multiple organ systems and can be life threatening. The molecular distinction between non-life-threatening and life-threatening modes of such anaphylaxis has not yet been delineated. In this study, we sought to identify the specific immune functions that regulate the severity of oral antigen-induced anaphylaxis. We thus developed an experimental mouse model in which repeated oral challenge of ovalbumin-primed mice induced an FcεRI- and IgE-dependent oral antigen-triggered anaphylaxis that involved multiple organ systems. Strikingly, the severity of the systemic symptoms of anaphylaxis (eg, hypothermia) positively correlated with the levels of intestinal mast cells (r = -0.53; P < 0.009). In addition, transgenic mice with both increased intestinal and normal systemic levels of mast cells showed increased severity of both intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms of IgE-mediated passive as well as oral antigen- and IgE-triggered anaphylaxis. In conclusion, these observations indicate that the density of intestinal mast cells controls the severity of oral antigen-induced anaphylaxis. Thus, an awareness of intestinal mast cell levels in patients with food allergies may aid in determining their susceptibility to life-threatening anaphylaxis and may eventually aid in the treatment of food-triggered anaphylaxis.

• Authors: Richard Ahrens, Heather Osterfeld, David Wu, Chun-Yu Chen, Muthuvel Arumugam, Katherine Groschwitz, Richard Strait, Yui-Hsi Wang, Fred D Finkelman, Simon P Hogan
• Journal: The American journal of pathology (Am J Pathol) Vol. 180 Issue 4 Pg. 1535-46 (Apr 2012) ISSN: 1525-2191 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22322300 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2012 American Society for Investigative Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antigens
• Receptors, IgE
• Immunoglobulin E
• Ovalbumin

Topics

• Administration, Oral
• Anaphylaxis (immunology)
• Animals
• Antigens (administration & dosage, immunology)
• Capillary Permeability (immunology)
• Cell Count
• Diffusion Chambers, Culture
• Disease Models, Animal
• Food Hypersensitivity (immunology)
• Immunoglobulin E (immunology)
• Jejunum (immunology)
• Mast Cells (immunology)
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred BALB C
• Mice, Transgenic
• Ovalbumin (administration & dosage, immunology)
• Receptors, IgE (immunology)
• Severity of Illness Index