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Epicutaneous Immunotherapy Results in Rapid Allergen Uptake by Dendritic Cells through Intact Skin and Downregulates the Allergen-Specific Response in Sensitized Mice

2011; American Association of Immunologists; Volume: 186; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4049/jimmunol.1003134

1550-6606

Vincent Dioszeghy, Lucie Mondoulet, Véronique Dhelft, Mélanie Ligouis, Emilie Puteaux, Pierre‐Henri Benhamou, Christophe Dupont,

Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Research

Epicutaneous immunotherapy onto intact skin has proved to be an efficient and safe alternative treatment of allergy in an animal model with various allergens and in children for cow's milk allergy. The aim of this study was to analyze the different steps of the immunological handling of the allergen when deposited on intact skin using an epicutaneous delivery system and its immune consequences in sensitized BALB/c mice. As expected, when applied on intact skin, OVA exhibits neither a passive passage through the skin nor any detectable systemic delivery. The current study demonstrates that, after a prolonged application on intact skin, OVA is taken up by dendritic cells in the superficial layers of the stratum corneum and transported, after internalization, to the draining lymph nodes, with variations according to the previous level of sensitization of the mice. When OVA is applied with the epicutaneous delivery system repeatedly, specific local and systemic responses are down-modulated in association with the induction of regulatory T cells. Besides providing new insights into skin function in the presence of allergens, this study indicates that the skin might have a tolerogenic role, at least when kept intact.