Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (4)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wu, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Oliveira, D. B. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wu, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Oliveira, D. B. G.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

International Immunology, Vol. 14, No. 3, 267-273, March 2002
© 2002 Japanese Society for Immunology

Antioxidants inhibit mercuric chloride-induced early vasculitis

Zhonglin Wu, David R. Turner1 and David B. G. Oliveira

Divisions of Renal Medicine and
1 Histopathology, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK

Correspondence to: Z. Wu; E-mail: z.wu{at}sghms.ac.uk

In the Brown Norway (BN) rat, mercuric chloride (HgCl2) induces a Th2-dominated autoimmune syndrome which includes an early phase of mast cell-dependent vasculitis. We have shown in vitro that oxidative stress up-regulates IL-4 in mast cells and predisposes to degranulation. The aim of this study was to determine whether administration of antioxidants inhibits HgCl2-induced early vasculitis in vivo, and, if so, to examine whether modulation of the oxidative/antioxidative balance influences IgE and IL-4 expression by mast cells in situ. Groups of rats were given HgCl2 + saline, HgCl2 + N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), saline + saline or saline + NAC respectively and blood was taken and animals killed 48 h later. NAC significantly reduced both HgCl2-induced early vasculitis and HgCl2-enhanced IgE expression on mast cells with a trend to a decrease in HgCl2-enhanced IL-4 expression in these cells. In addition, there was an increased rat mast cell protease (RMCP) II concentration in the serum after HgCl2 injection and the elevated levels of RMCP II stimulated by HgCl2 were totally abolished by the administration NAC in the HgCl2 + NAC group. However, there was no significant change in serum total IgE concentrations between the HgCl2 + saline group and the HgCl2 + NAC group. The non-sulphydryl-containing antioxidants desferrioxamine and pyruvate demonstrated a similar effect in inhibiting HgCl2-induced early vasculitis. Our data show that administration of an antioxidant to BN rats reduces HgCl2-induced early vasculitis, suggesting that oxidative stress plays a role in the pathogenesis of HgCl2-induced early vasculitis. This finding may have implications for the understanding of the initiation in this experimental model of Th2 cell-driven autoimmunity and possibly of analogous human diseases.

Keywords: antibodies and autoimmunity, cytokines, in vivo animal model, mast cells


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.