Hitoshi Ohmori (1), Ken-ichi Haruna (2), Atsushi Okumura (2), Tatsuya Kishimoto (1) and Masaki Hikida (1)
(1) Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama University, Tsushima-Naka, Okayama 700, Japan (2) Senju Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Chuou-ku, Osaka 541, Japan
Abstract: Subconjunctival immunization of mice with dinitrophenyl (DNP)-Ascaris plus alum led to the induction of a local anti-DNP IgE response in 8 days. Anti-DNP IgE was found to be secreted from isolated lymphocytes in the parotic lymph node neighboring the immunization site but not from those in the spleen and the mesenteric lymph node. The IgE response was also confirmed by the detection of C epsilon transcript in the parotic lymph node cells. Ocular topical application of betamethazone resulted in considerable suppression of the IgE response in the parotic lymph node, thus suggesting that this immunization protocol is useful for evaluating ocular topical anti-allergic drugs that are expected to suppress local IgE responses.
Keywords:
Subconjunctival immunization, Anti-dinitrophenyl (DNP) IgE, Parotic lymph node