MHC restriction in contact hypersensitivity to dicyclohexylcarbodiimide

Mouse ear swelling tests were performed using different strains of mice with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC), diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC), di-p-tolylcarbodiimide (DTC), and positive control chemicals, such as dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) and oxazolone (OXA). The chemicals were examined at different doses up to the minimal irritating concentration determined in a irritancy assay. While BALB/c mice exhibited strong responses for the carbodiimide compounds, C3H/HeN mice demonstrated no reactions. Other strains, C57BL/6 and DBA/1, also showed responses to DCC, but CBA/J mice with the same haplotype as C3H/HeN (H-2(k)) did not. Based on our present findings, there may be a specific unresponsiveness to DCC dependent on the H-2(k) haplotype.