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Effect of Sex on the Induction of Anti-DNA Antibodies in Normal Mice Immunized with Bacterial DNADivision of Rheumatology and Immunology, Durham Veterans Administration Hospital; Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Durham Veterans Administration Hospital; Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Durham Veterans Administration Hospital; Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA Immunization of normal mice with bacterial DNA elicits a significant IgG anti-DNA response and has been explored as a model of systemic lupus erythematosus. To determine whether this induced response is influenced by sex, we have measured anti-DNA levels in normal male and female BALB/c mice immunized with single stranded DNA from E. coli as complexes with methylated bovine serum albumin (mBSA) in adjuvant. By ELISA assays, anti-DNA levels of immunized females were approximately 16-fold higher than those of immunized males; levels of antibodies to the mBSA carrier were similar, however. The antibodies from females and males showed a similar degree of cross-reactivity when assayed using other natural and synthetic DNA antigens, including mammalian DNA. These findings suggest the potentiation of anti-DNA production in females by antigen-specific mechanisms and provide further evidence that immunization with bacterial DNA replicates features of autoantibody production in SLE.
Key Words: SLE • Anti-DNA antibodies • Sex differences • Animal models
Lupus, Vol. 2, No. 4,
251-255 (1993) |
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