Role of CTLA-4, IL-18 and IL-10 on the Induction of Low Dose Oral Tolerance.

Oral Tolerance is the temporary loss of systemic immunological responsiveness to a specific soluble antigen after ingestion of that antigen. Results from our lab and others indicated that CTLA-4 and lack of IL-12 played a role in the induction of low dose oral tolerance at the Th1 cell level. Previous literature suggested that IL-18 also played a role in preventing oral tolerance induction while the cytokine IL-10 had been shown to be a factor contributing to suppressed immune responses.

Multiple sclerosis: pathogenesis and MR imaging features of T1 hypointensities in a [corrected] murine model.

Purpose: To prospectively determine how T1 hypointensities (T1 black holes) on brain magnetic resonance (MR) images are generated by the immune system by using a Theiler murine encephalitis virus-induced model of multiple sclerosis and high-field-strength MR imaging.

Materials And Methods: All animal protocols and experiments were approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. Volumetric MR imaging studies were conducted at 7 T in six C57BL/6 mice and in immune differentiation marker (recombination activation gene [RAG]-1)-, immune cell (CD4, CD8)-, and immune effector molecule (Fas ligand, perforin)-deficient mice (six mice in each group) to determine which immune cell types and effector molecules lead to T1 hypointensities.