Reduction of lupus nephritis in MRL/1pr mice by a bacterial superantigen treatment

Abstract

The effects of biweekly intravenous injections of Staphylococcus Enterotoxin B (SEB) into autoimmune MRL-lpr/lpr (MRL/lpr) mice were investigated. Rather than causing the expansion of Vβ8+ T cells, SEB administration resulted in the reduction of Vβ8+, CD4-CD8- "double-negative" (DN) T cells. This was shown by FACS® analysis as this putative pathogenic population was diminished in both spleen and lymph node. The symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in MRL/lpr, which include high titers of anti-DNA antibodies and circulating immune complexes and proteinuria, were reduced in SEB-treated mice in a dose-dependent manner. The clinical parameters of SLE in MRL/lpr, which include lymph node hyperplasia and necrotic vasculitis, were suppressed in 50-μg SEB-treated mice. T cells bearing Vβ6 T cell receptor, which does not interact with SEB, were not reduced with SEB administration. Thus, disease suppression was associated with a specific reduction in the number of Vβ8+, DN T cells. These results implicate a possible therapeutic role of superantigen-based immunotherapy in Vβ-restricted, T cell-dominated clinical syndromes.