Role of bradykinin B2 receptors and mast cells in the bradykinin-induced skin response in the rat

Anthrax lethal toxin induces ketotifen-sensitive intradermal vascular leakage in certain inbred mice

Bacillus anthracis lethal toxin (LT) is a bipartite toxin composed of protective antigen (PA) and lethal factor (LF). Injection of LT produces clinical signs characteristic of anthrax infection, including pleural edema and vascular collapse in various animal models. We utilized the classic Miles leakage assay to quantify vascular leakage in mice. LT injected intradermally induced leakage as early as 15 to 25 min in some inbred mouse strains, but not in others, whereas PA or LF individually did not induce leakage. A third component of anthrax toxin, edema factor, did not induce leakage alone or with PA. Leakage was quantified in eight mouse strains, and no correlation was found between sensitivity to intradermal leakage and sensitivity to the lethality of systemically administered LT. The leakage could be inhibited by ketotifen, an inhibitor of mast cell degranulation, but not by azelastine, a histamine receptor 1 antagonist, or by ketanserin, a serotonin 5-HT2A receptor antagonist. LT was cytotoxic to MC/9 mast cells (in vitro) by 7 h after toxin treatment but did not induce histamine release from these cells. Mast cell-deficient mice exhibited the leakage event and had no increased resistance to systemic LT. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were resistant to LT over 12 h, with only 20% of cells succumbing by 24 h, suggesting that endothelial cell killing is not the cause of the rapid LT-mediated leakage event. We describe here a ketotifen-sensitive vascular leakage event induced by LT which is the most rapid in vivo or in vitro LT-mediated effect reported to date.

Physicochemical and biological properties of an extracellular serine protease of Aeromonas sobria

Previously, we cloned a protease gene of Aeromonas sobria, determined its nucleotide sequence and established a method of purifying its product. In this study, we examined the properties of the purified protease. The protease was temperature-labile and had an optimal pH of 7.5. Metallo-protease inhibitors and a cysteine protease inhibitor did not block the proteolytic activity of the enzyme. The treatment with reagents to modify sulfhydryl group did not reduce the activity. But, serine protease inhibitors did, showing that it was a serine protease. Subsequently, we examined the ability of the protease to enhance vascular permeability in dorsal skin. The protease showed activity and the reaction was inhibited by a simultaneously injected antihistaminic agent. Histopathological examination showed that mast cells appeared around the site where the protease was injected. These findings show that the vascular permeability-enhancing effect of the protease is due to histamine released at the site. Furthermore, we found that a soybean trypsin inhibitor (Kunitz) did not block the proteolytic action of the protease in vitro, but inhibited its vascular permeability-enhancing activity in skin. This suggests that a trypsin-like protease from skin mediates the activity of the protease to enhance its vascular permeability.

Evidence that mast cell degranulation, histamine and tumour necrosis factor alpha release occur in LPS-induced plasma leakage in rat skin

1. In the present study we investigated the role of mast cells during inflammation in rat skin. As the release of several pro-inflammatory mediators, such as histamine and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), occurs following mast cell activation we studied whether mast cell degranulation and the release of both histamine (H) and TNFalpha occurred in a model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced plasma leakage in rat skin. 2. Plasma leakage in the rat skin was measured over a period of 2 h as the local accumulation of intravenous injection of 125I-human serum albumin (125I-HSA) in response to intradermal injection of LPS. LPS (10 microg site-1) produced an increase of plasma leakage (50.1+/-2.3 microl site-1) as compared to saline (9.0+/-3.2 microl site-1). Histological analysis of rat tissue showed that LPS induced a remarkable mast cell degranulation (59.8+/-2.1%) as compared to saline (13.5+/-2.2%). 3. Ketotifen (10-9 - 10-7 mol site-1), a well-known mast cell-membrane stabilizer, produced a dose-related inhibition of LPS-induced plasma leakage by 36+/-3.5%, 47+/-4.0%, 60+/-3.3% respectively. In addition, ketotifen (10-7 mol site-1) inhibited mast cell degranulation by 59. 2+/-2.7%. 4. Chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) (10-9 - 10-7 mol site-1), an H1 histamine receptor antagonist only partially inhibited LPS-induced plasma leakage in rat skin (38+/-1.1% at the highest dose). Furthermore, CPM (10-7 mol site-1) did not prevent mast cell degranulation. 5. A polyclonal antibody against TNFalpha (1:500, 1:100, 1:50 v v-1 dilution), locally injected, decreased LPS-induced plasma leakage in the skin by 15+/-2.0%, 24+/-2.1% and 50+/-3.0% respectively. 6. Taken together these results suggest that LPS-induced plasma leakage in rat skin is mediated, at least in part, by mast cell degranulation and by the release of histamine and TNFalpha from these cells.