N. Bessis et al., ATTENUATION OF COLLAGEN-INDUCED ARTHRITIS IN MICE BY TREATMENT WITH VECTOR CELLS ENGINEERED TO SECRETE INTERLEUKIN-13, European Journal of Immunology, 26(10), 1996, pp. 2399-2403
The anti-inflammatory effects of the recently identified cytokine inte
rleukin (IL)-13 on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) was explored and c
ompared to those of IL-4 using systemic administration of these cytoki
nes via two injections of xenogeneic vector cells transfected with a p
lasmid construct. CIA was induced in DBA/1 mice by immunization with n
ative bovine type II collagen (CII). Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) fibro
blasts transfected with the mouse IL-13 or IL-4 genes were inoculated
subcutaneously on days 10 and 25 post-priming with CII and mice were m
onitored for signs of arthritis by observers unaware of the status of
the animals. Incidence and severity of CIA were significantly reduced
in the groups of mice treated with IL-13 and IL-4 gene-transfected CHO
cells compared to control groups receiving nontransfected cells. Expr
ession of various cytokines in spleen cells from individual mice was a
ssessed by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactio
n at different times after immunization. Our data show that IL-13-indu
ced suppression of CIA coincided with a decreased TNF-alpha mRNA expre
ssion in the spleen of treated animals. This may explain at least part
ially the anti-inflammatory effects of IL-13 in CIA. Thus, our results
may have important implications for the clinical use of T helper (Th)
1/Th2 modulatory cytokines as therapeutic agents in the treatment of a
utoimmune diseases.