Oral tolerance to ovalbumin in mice as a model for detecting modulators of the immunologic tolerance to a specific antigen.

Oral tolerance is thought to have a role in preventing allergic responses and immune-mediated diseases. Modulation of this tolerance by drugs and chemicals can cause or suppress them. An improved model of oral tolerance to ovalbumin (OVA) in mice was developed to detect modulators of the tolerance and to apply it to selected immunomodulating substances, cyclophosphamide (CP), Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cadmium chloride (Cd). Male C3H/HeN mice given an oral administration of 20 mg OVA were immunized 7 d later with an i.p. injection of 0.1 mg OVA in complete Freund's adjuvant. Effects of oral OVA and agents on systemic immunity were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of immunoglobulin (Ig) levels in serum collected 7 or 14 d after immunization. Oral tolerance was adequately induced on day 7 after immunization and was more effective in C3H/HeN mice than in BALB/c mice. It was primarily associated with the decreased serum levels of anti-OVA IgG (including both IgG1 and IgG2a subclasses regulated differently by T-helper subpopulations, Th2 and Th1 cells, respectively). The C3H model of oral tolerance was further examined to detect modulators of the tolerance. An i.p. injection of CP prior to oral OVA, or 5 consecutive daily oral administrations of LPS after oral OVA elevated or reduced serum levels of anti-OVA IgG in C3H mice hyposensitized by the oral OVA, respectively. Concerning IgG subclasses, CP restored anti-OVA IgG2a but not IgG1 levels, while LPS caused greater suppression of both anti-OVA IgG1 and IgG2a levels. Oral administrations of Cd for 5 d after oral OVA also suppressed anti-OVA IgG1 levels further.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)