Looking beyond Self-Protection: The Eyes Instruct Systemic Immune Tolerance Early in Life

The eyes provide themselves with immune tolerance. Frequent skin inflammatory diseases in young blind people suggest, nonetheless, that the eyes instruct a systemic immune tolerance that benefits the whole body. We tested this premise by using delayed skin contact hypersensitivity (DSCH) as a tool to compare the inflammatory response developed by sighted (S) and birth-enucleated (BE) mice against oxazolone or dinitrofluorobenzene at the ages of 10, 30 and 60 days of life. Adult mice enucleated (AE) at 60 days of age were also assessed when they reached 120 days of life. BE mice displayed exacerbated DSCH at 60 but not at 10 or 30 days of age. AE mice, in contrast, show no exacerbated DSCH. Skin inflammation in 60-day-old BE mice was hapten exclusive and supported by distinct CD8+ lymphocytes. The number of intraepidermal T lymphocytes and migrating Langerhans cells was, however, similar between S and BE mice by the age of 60 days. Our observations support the idea that the eyes instruct systemic immune tolerance that benefits organs outside the eyes from an early age. The higher prevalence of inflammatory skin disorders reported in young people might then reflect reduced immune tolerance associated with the impaired functional morphology of the eyes.

Electroacupuncture and moxibustion-like stimulation activate the cutaneous and systemic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes in the rat

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether electroacupuncture (EA) or moxibustion-like stimulation (MLS) can affect the cutaneous and/or systemic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axes.

METHODS

Rats were divided into Control, EA, 37°C MLS and 43.5°C MLS groups. EA and MLS were performed at bilateral ST36 or LI4. The expression of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) was detected in local cutaneous tissues at the site of ST36 and LI4 by immunohistochemical staining. In addition, levels of CRF, ACTH and corticosterone (CORT) in cutaneous tissue and plasma were determined.

RESULTS

Cutaneous expression of CRF, ACTH and GR significantly increased after EA at ST36, while only GR increased after 43.5°C MLS at ST36. The results of EA and MLS at LI4 were in parallel with those at ST36. In plasma, compared with the control group, the level of CORT increased after EA at ST36, while both ACTH and CORT were markedly increased after 43.5°C MLS. For LI4, plasma CRF and CORT increased after EA, while the levels of all three hormones increased following 43.5°C MLS. Notably, compared with the effect of EA, 43.5°C MLS at ST36 produced a more substantial increase in plasma CORT, and 43.5°C MLS at LI4 induced a more dramatic increase in plasma CRF and CORT.

CONCLUSION

Both EA and 43.5°C MLS can activate the cutaneous and systemic HPA axes of the rat. EA tended to activate the local cutaneous HPA, while 43.5°C MLS was more likely to activate the systemic HPA axis.