Materials and Methods: BALB/c mice was sensitized with OVA and treated with OVA-flagellin (FlaB) mixture via intranasal, sublingual and intralymphatic routre to evaluate the effect of intralymphatic administration. Then several parameters of allergic inflammation was assessed including symptom score, eosinophil and neutrophil infiltration in the nasal mucosa, systemic cytokine levels, and Total and OVA-specific imuunoglobulin E. To evaluate the mechanism of intralymphatic injection, local cytokine, chemokine, and innate cytokine analysis was undertaken using real time PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry.
Results: Intralymphatic injection by OVA-FlaB mixture reduced symptom score, eosinophil infiltration in the nasal mucosa and total and OVA-specific IgE levels more significantly than intranasal and sublingual administration . The systemic cytokines(IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-17 and IFN-r) and local cytokines(IL-4, IL-5) production were also decreased significantly in intralymphatic injection by OVA-FlaB. Double administration of mixture was more effective than single administration. Moerover, the expression of innate cytokine such as IL-25, IL-33 in nasal epithelial cells were decreased and the chemokine expression such as CCL24(eotaxin-2) and CXCL1,2 were decreased in the nasal mucosa, suggesting the underlying mechanism of intralymphitc administration of OVA+FlaB mixture.
Conclusion: Intralymphatic administration of OVA+FlaB mixture was more effective in alleviating allergic inflammation than intranasal and sublingual administration in mouse model of allergic rhinitis and this effect could be attributed to reduced expression of innate cytokine and chemokines. This modality could be considered as a new therapeutic method and agent.