Induction of peripheral tolerance by oral administration of low-dose β-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 μg of β-tubulin, respectively. All mice were then immunized by β-tubulin. Hearing thresholds were measured before and after immunization. Inner ear histology and cytokine profile were examined. Mice fed with 20 or 30 μg of β-tubulin showed less hearing loss and less inner ear damage compared to the groups treated with PBS, OVA or 200 μg of β-tubulin. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) was decreased while interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, IL-13 and TGF-β were increased in both sera and in cell culture supernatants of the mice fed with 20 or 30 μg of β-tubulin. However, no cytokine profile change was found in the group treated with 200 μg of tubulin. These results suggest that a low dose of β-tubulin is active orally in an antigen-specific fashion and capable of inhibiting the autoimmune reactions in the inner ear by suppressingTh1 (IFN-γ) and increasing Th2 and Th3 (IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and TGF-β) cytokines. Oral antigen tolerance may be used to treat autoimmune inner ear disease.

Keywords:
Oral tolerance, β-Tubulin, Autoimmune inner ear disease, mice
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© 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel
2009
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