Protective major histocompatibility complex genes and the role of interleukin-4 in collagen-induced arthritis

✍ Scribed by Matthias Hesse; Şinasi Bayrak; Avrion Mitchison

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 317 KB
• Volume: 26
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0014-2980
• DOI: 10.1002/eji.1830261259

✦ Synopsis

Protective major histocompatibility complex genes and the role of interleukin-4 in collagen-induced arthritis

To investigate the role of interleukin (1L)-4 during the triggering of collageninduced arthritis, we examined the effects of the I-Ab and I-E protective/suppressive genes and passively administered anti-IL-4 monoclonal antibody. In contrast to the action of I-E expression on its own, which has mainly a suppressive effect post-triggering, the combination of I-Ab and I-E had a marked protective effect. Assuming, on the basis of previous experience with the I-Ab allele, that it might act through suppressing early IL-4 production, we treated mice with the l l B l l IL-Cneutralizing antibody around the time of initial immunization with collagen. Treatment over a period extending to 6 days post-immunization exacerbated the arthritis, but when curtailed to 2 days post-immunization (and tested in pristane-primed animals), the disease was reduced. We conclude that IL-4 plays an essential role in triggering the disease.