Influence of Environmental Mite Antigen on Anti-Mite Antibody Production in Mice

摘要

To investigate the effects of environmental mite antigen on anti-mite antibody production in mice, a mite-free breeding system was established. The amount of Dermatophagoides farinae (Df) antigen was measured using the ELISA inhibition method. Df antigen was detected in the wood-chip bedding used in our conventional breeding system for 1 week (2.55 ± 0.79 μg/g sample) and 2 weeks (8.96 ± 3.27 μg/g sample). Df antigen was also detected in the standard diet (0.4 μg/g sample) in the conventional system, whereas no antigen was detected in the case of the mite-free breeding system. Neither anti-Df IgE nor IgG antibody was detected before immunization, either in mice raised in the mite-free breeding system or in mice raised in the conventional system. Primary and secondary antibody production after immunizations with 1 or 10 μg Df antigen was studied in the mouse bred in the conventional and in the mite-free breeding system. Primary anti-Df IgE antibody response of the conventional group was greater than that in the mite-free group after immunization with either dose of 1 and 10 μg Df antigen. Primary anti-Df IgG antibody response was greater in the conventional than the mite-free group after immunization with 1 μg Df antigen. Secondary IgE and IgG responses of the conventional group were greater than the mite-free group after immunizations with 10 μg Df antigen. These results suggest that anti-Df antibody production is enhanced by chronic exposure to Df antigen in the env