Abstract

We investigated the effect of diesel exhaust particles (DEP) on oral tolerance. Oral tolerance was induced by feeding mice with 10 mg of hen egg lysozyme (HEL) daily over a period of 5 days before immunization with the antigen. Varying doses of DEP were orally administered immediately before each feeding of HEL. The results showed that oral administration of HEL significantly suppressed production of anti-HEL IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies, delayed-type hypersensitivity and proliferative responses of lymph node cells to the antigen. The suppression of these immune responses to HEL by the oral antigen was associated with a marked decrease in secretion of interferon-γ and interleukin-4 from the lymphoid cells. Administration of DEP dose-dependently blocked suppression by oral HEL of antigen-specific IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a antibody production, delayed-type hypersensitivity and lymphoid cell proliferation. The suppression by the fed antigen of secretion of interferon-γ and interleukin-4 was also markedly diminished by the particles. Thus, DEP appear to be effective in blocking induction of oral tolerance.