Ehm. Vanterve et al., THE VEHICLE MODULATES CELLULAR AND HUMORAL RESPONSES IN CONTACT HYPERSENSITIVITY TO OXAZOLONE, TOXICOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 44(1), 1998, pp. 39-45
The development of contact hypersensitivity (CHS) greatly depends on t
he allergenicity of the inducing agent. However, various cofactors are
known to influence the outcome of the response as well. From this per
spective, we have compared the effects of five different vehicles: ace
tone, ethanol, dimethyl formamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), an
d a 4 to 1 mixture of acetone and olive oil (AOO) on the cellular and
humoral immune responses to epicutaneously applied oxazolone in female
BALB/c mice, A single application of 0.2% oxazolone dissolved in acet
one or ethanol induced stronger proliferative responses and higher lym
ph node cell numbers than the other three vehicles. Moreover, both veh
icles led to higher numbers of oxazolone-specific Ab forming cells in
the draining lymph nodes of sensitized animals. When the IgG2a/IgG1 ra
tios were determined to indicate the type of T helper cell involved, t
he highest values were obtained with AOO and lowest with DMF and DMSO,
while acetone and ethanol were in between. Moreover, no correlation w
as found between oxazolone-specific antibody production and cellular r
esponses, measured as [H-3]thymidine incorporation of draining lymph n
ode cells after sensitization and increased ear thickness after challe
nge. From this study it can be concluded that cellular and humoral res
ponses in CHS to oxazolone are dissimilarly affected by the vehicles u
sed. (C) 1998 Society of Toxicology.