Testicular-associated immune deviation and prevention of adjuvant-induced arthritis by three tolerization methods

A new tolerizing effect, testicular-associated immune deviation (TAID), was produced in rats by injecting antigen, emulsified with adjuvant, into the testicle. TAID abrogated the delayed hypersensitivity response to subsequent immunization. This study also assessed the effect of anterior chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID), the aforementioned TAID and an equivalent tolerization method named alternative in vitro immune deviation (AVID), on adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA). ACAID was produced by introducing antigen, emulsified with adjuvant, into the anterior chamber of the eye. AVID was achieved by exposing peritoneal exudate cells to antigen in the presence of fetal calf serum in vitro and then injecting the cells intraperitoneally. Antigen in adjuvant was administered intradermally to Dark Agouti rats, which are normally susceptible to AIA. One week after treatment with ACAID, TAID or AVID, the rats became resistant to AIA. The presence of neutralizing antibody to transforming growth factor-beta2 (TGF-beta2) in the culture abrogated the AVID effect. We concluded that introducing an antigen to the testicle induces immune deviation, and that prior introduction of the antigen to macrophages in an appropriate immune suppressive context, such as ACAID, TAID or AVID, prevents AIA.