The allergy adjuvant effect of particles – genetic factors influence antibody and cytokine responses

PSP injected with OVA increased the levels of OVA-specific IgE antibodies in all strains examined. In contrast, the IgG2a levels were significantly increased only in NIH and C3H/HeN mice. PSP in the presence of OVA increased cell numbers and IL-4, IL-10 and IFN-γ levels in BALB/cA, NIH and C3H/HeN mice, with the exception of IFN-γ in NIH mice. However, each mouse strain had their unique pattern of response to OVA+PSP, OVA and PSP, and also their unique background cytokine response (i.e. the cytokine response in cells from mice injected with buffer only).Genetic factors (i.e. the strain of mice) influenced the susceptibility to the adjuvant effect of PSP on both secondary antibody responses and primary cellular responses in the lymph node, as well as the cellular responses to both OVA and PSP given separately. Interestingly, PSP alone induced cytokine responses in the lymph node in some of the mouse strains. Furthermore, we found that the ex vivo cytokine patterns did not predict the in vivo Th2- and Th1-associated antibody response patterns in the different mouse strains. The results indicate that insoluble particles act by increasing the inherent response to the allergen, and that the genetic background may determine whether an additional Th1-associated component is added to the response.Numerous epidemiological studies conducted in different parts of the world have demonstrated a consistent association between levels of ambient air particles and various health outcomes, including mortality, cardiopulmonary disease, reduced lung function, and exacerbation of asthma and allergy-related symptoms (reviewed in [1,2]). Some populations seem to be at particular risk, like the elderly, children or patients with diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma [1,3]. Furthermore, the genetic background has been associated with differences in human susceptibility to environmental agents including pesticides and infectious agents [4], and may be of importance also