Suppression of immune-mediated otitis media by T-suppressor cells.

Effects of mucosa-derived T-suppressor cells on induction of IgG-mediated otitis media with effusion (OME) were investigated in mice, since antigen-antibody reactions in the tympanic cavity are pathogenic mechanisms of OME. Splenic T-suppressor cells from strain C3H/HeN female mice, to which ovalbumin (OVA) had been orally administered, were transferred intravenously to syngeneic mice. The mice receiving the T-suppressor cells were immunized with OVA intraperitoneally and then injected with OVA into the tympanic cavity. Nine of ten control mice, to which splenic T cells from saline-fed mice were administered, developed OME, while OME was seen in only one of ten mice receiving splenic T cells from OVA-fed mice. The results show that IgG-mediated OME can be suppressed to a certain extent by the induction of antigen-specific, mucosa-derived, T-suppressor cells.