IL-21 administration into the nostril alleviates murine allergic rhinitis

Type I allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis are caused by IgE-mediated humoral immune responses, while eosinophils also fulfill important roles in the etiology of IgE-mediated allergy. IL-21 regulates growth, differentiation, and function of T, B, and NK cells, while the production of IgE is also influenced by IL-21. In this study we examined whether IL-21 is capable of controlling IgE-mediated allergic reactions in vivo by using the allergic rhinitis mouse model that was established by repetitive sensitization and intranasal challenge with OVA. Intranasal administration with recombinant mouse IL-21 (rmIL-21) significantly reduced the number of sneezes, as well as the serum concentration of OVA-specific IgE, in comparison with that of untreated allergic mice. The rmIL-21 treatment also suppressed germline C epsilon transcription in the nasal-associated lymphoid tissues, which may have, at least partly, resulted from the up-regulation of Bcl-6 mRNA caused by IL-21. Local expression of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 was also inhibited by the intranasal cytokine therapy whereas, in contrast, the expression of endogenous IL-21 mRNA was induced by exogenous rmIL-21. Moreover, IL-21 acted on nasal fibroblasts to inhibit production of eotaxin. This novel function of IL-21 may be associated with the attenuation of eosinophil infiltration into nasal mucosa that was revealed by histopathological observation. These results indicated that IL-21 nasal administration effectively ameliorated allergic rhinitis through pleiotropic activities, i.e., the prevention of IgE production by B cells and eotaxin production by fibroblasts.