Abstract
Purpose :
Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) produce large amounts of Th2 cytokines in response to IL-33 and induce eosinophil infiltration. We previously reported the existence of ILC2s in both conjunctiva and lacrimal glands (LG), and showed the essential roles of IL-33 and ILC2 in papain-induced mouse conjunctivitis mouse models. In this study, we further examined the roles of ILC2s for papain-induced conjunctivitis mouse models with LG excision.
Methods :
LG excision was performed unilaterally on 8-week-old female C57BL/6 IL-33 deficient and C57BL/6 wild-type mice. A contact lens (2mm diameter), which was soaked in papain solution, was inserted in the right eye. Then the eyelids were sutured. Two days later, the contact lens was replaced by a new papain-soaked lens. Four days after first papain contact lens installation, histological analysis and gene expression analysis were carried out using the conjunctival samples.
Results :
Significant reduction for the numbers of infiltrating eosinophils was observed in the papain-induced conjunctivitis using IL-33 deficient mice. Furthermore, the numbers of infiltrating eosinophils were decreased by LG excision in the wild type mice. Il5 mRNA and il13 mRNA induction in papain-induced conjunctivitis was suppressed by LG excision in the wild type mice.
Conclusions :
ILC2 derived from lacrimal gland could have some roles in eosinophil infiltration of conjunctivitis in papain conjunctivitis model.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.