Sublingual Immunotherapy Induces Regulatory Function of IL-10-Expressing CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ T Cells of Cervical Lymph Nodes in Murine Allergic Rhinitis Model

Figure 7

Antigen-specific serum IgE production and Th1/Th2 profile in spleen of mice which received therapeutic sublingual OVA treatment after induction of allergic rhinitis. Mice were sublingually administered with either PBS or OVA after intraperitoneal sensitization and nasal challenges with OVA. Thereafter, the mice received consecutive nasal challenges with OVA again and examined for their allergic responses. (a) OVA-specific IgE levels in serum were assayed by sandwich ELISA. (b) Culture supernatants of CD4⁺ T cells of spleen obtained from sublingually treated mice with allergic rhinitis were assessed for Th1 and Th2 cytokine production levels by ELISA. These data are representative of two independent experiments containing three to five mice in each group. Significance was evaluated by an unpaired t-test. ^∗𝑃<0.05 and ^∗∗𝑃<0.01.