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Infection and Immunity, May 2002, p. 2282-2287, Vol. 70, No. 5
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.5.2282-2287.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Mucosal Tolerance to a Bacterial Superantigen Indicates a Novel Pathway To Prevent Toxic Shock

L. Vincent Collins,1* Kristina Eriksson,2 Robert G. Ulrich,3 and Andrej Tarkowski1

Departments of Rheumatology,1 Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Göteborg, Göteborg, Sweden,2 Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Frederick, Maryland3

Received 15 October 2001/ Returned for modification 27 December 2001/ Accepted 29 January 2002

Enterotoxins with superantigenic properties secreted during systemic Staphylococcus aureus infection are responsible for toxic shock. We show that intranasal administration of staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA), but not a recombinant SEA lacking superantigenic activity, protected mice against lethal systemic SEA challenge. Protection was superantigen specific since intranasal exposure to SEA would not protect against death caused by subsequent toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 systemic challenge. Protection was neither due to selective depletion of SEA-specific T-cell receptor Vß families nor due to production of neutralizing anti-SEA antibodies. Importantly, the production of interleukin 10 (IL-10) induced by "tolerization" (that is, by the induction of immunological tolerance) contributed to the observed protection against lethal superantigen-triggered disease. In support of this notion we found that (i) significantly increased levels of IL-10 in sera of "tolerized" animals (that is, animals rendered tolerant) and (ii) IL-10-/- mice could not be tolerized by mucosal SEA administration. Altogether, this is the first study to show that mucosal tolerance to a superantigen is readily triggered by means of immunodeviation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Rheumatology, University of Göteborg, Guldhedsgatan 10A, S-413 46 Göteborg, Sweden. Phone: 46-31-3426475. Fax: 46-31-823-925. E-mail: vincent.collins{at}rheuma.gu.se.

Editor: J. D. Clements

Infection and Immunity, May 2002, p. 2282-2287, Vol. 70, No. 5
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.5.2282-2287.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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