Abstract |
Induction of peripheral tolerance by oral administration of low-dose beta-tubulin antigen may be an effective, antigen-specific method to suppress experimental autoimmune hearing loss. Five groups of mice were fed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), ovalbumin (OVA), 20, 30 or 200 microg of beta-tubulin, respectively. All mice were then immunized by beta-tubulin. Hearing thresholds were measured before and after immunization. Inner ear histology and cytokine profile were examined. Mice fed with 20 or 30 microg of beta-tubulin showed less hearing loss and less inner ear damage compared to the groups treated with PBS, OVA or 200 microg of beta-tubulin. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was decreased while interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, IL-13 and TGF-beta were increased in both sera and in cell culture supernatants of the mice fed with 20 or 30 microg of beta-tubulin. However, no cytokine profile change was found in the group treated with 200 microg of tubulin. These results suggest that a low dose of beta-tubulin is active orally in an antigen-specific fashion and capable of inhibiting the autoimmune reactions in the inner ear by suppressing Th1 (IFN-gamma) and increasing Th2 and Th3 (IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and TGF-beta) cytokines. Oral antigen tolerance may be used to treat autoimmune inner ear disease.
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Authors | Qing Cai, Xiaoping Du, Bin Zhou, Chun Cai, Mohammad Habiby Kermany, Taijune Yoo |
Journal | ORL; journal for oto-rhino-laryngology and its related specialties
(ORL J Otorhinolaryngol Relat Spec)
Vol. 71
Issue 3
Pg. 135-41
( 2009)
ISSN: 1423-0275 [Electronic] Switzerland |
PMID | 19365153
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
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Chemical References |
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Topics |
- Administration, Oral
- Animals
- Autoimmune Diseases
(drug therapy, immunology)
- Cells, Cultured
- Cytokines
(metabolism)
- Disease Models, Animal
- Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
- Ear, Inner
(immunology)
- Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem
- Female
- Hearing Loss
(immunology)
- Immune Tolerance
(drug effects, immunology)
- Immunization
(methods)
- Labyrinth Diseases
(drug therapy, immunology)
- Lymphocytes
(cytology, metabolism)
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Spleen
(cytology)
- Tubulin
(immunology, pharmacology)
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