Y. Motegi et al., INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MITE ANTIGEN ON ANTIMITE ANTIBODY-PRODUCTION IN MICE, International archives of allergy and immunology, 102(1), 1993, pp. 81-86
To investigate the effects of environmental mite antigen on anti-mite
antibody production in mice, a mite-free breeding system was establish
ed. The amount of Dermatophagoides farinae (Df) antigen was measured u
sing the ELISA inhibition method. Df antigen was detected in the wood-
chip bedding used in our conventional breeding system for 1 week (2.55
+/- 0.79 mug/g sample) and 2 weeks (8.96 +/- 3.27 mug/g sample). Df a
ntigen was also detected in the standard diet (0.4 mug/g sample) in th
e conventional system, whereas no antigen was detected in the case of
the mite-free breeding system. Neither anti-Df IgE nor IgG antibody wa
s detected before immunization, either in mice raised in the mite-free
breeding system or in mice raised in the conventional system. Primary
and secondary antibody production after immunizations with 1 or 10 mu
g Df antigen was studied in the mouse bred in the conventional and in
the mite-free breeding system. Primary anti-Df IgE antibody response o
f the conventional group was greater than that in the mite-free group
after immunization with either dose of 1 and 10 mug Df antigen. Primar
y anti-Df IgG antibody response was greater in the conventional than t
he mite-free group after immunization with 1 mug Df antigen. Secondary
IgE and IgG responses of the conventional group were greater than the
mite-free group after immunizations with 10 mug Df antigen. These res
ults suggest that anti-Df antibody production is enhanced by chronic e
xposure to Df antigen in the environment.