Epicutaneous immunization inhibits CII-specific proliferation, reduces Th1 and enhances Th2-type cytokines.

<p>Splenocytes were collected from each mouse and cultured for 90 h with CII or control antigen. Proliferation was determined by [³H]-thymidine incorporation (A) and cytokine production by ELISA (B). Results of proliferative experiments are expressed as mean cpm+1 SEM (n = 9). Background proliferation when no antigen was present has been subtracted. No proliferation was observed to control antigen but the two groups responded with similar [cpm] when stimulated with ConA. Production of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-13, IL-10 and TGF-β is expressed as mean pg/ml+1 SEM (n = 9). No cytokines were produced in response to a control antigen or when cells were not stimulated. Dashed horizontal lines (where visible) represents limit of detection. (□) = un-immunized healthy controls, (▪) = treated with epicutaneous CII, (▪) = sham-treated CCIA controls.