Open AccessThe mast cell/S1P axis is not linked to pre-lesional male skin remodeling in a mouse model of eczema
Author(s) -
Ross Tanis,
Piper A. Wedman-Robida,
Alena Chumanevich,
John W. Fuseler,
Carole A. Oskeritzian
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
aims allergy and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2575-615X
DOI - 10.3934/allergy.2021012
Subject(s) - chemokine , mast cell , ccl2 , biology , inflammation , ovalbumin , pathology , cellular infiltration , immunology , ccl5 , histopathology , infiltration (hvac) , medicine , antigen , t cell , immune system , physics , il 2 receptor , thermodynamics
Atopic dermatitis (AD, eczema) is an inflammatory skin condition whose histopathology involves remodeling. Few preclinical AD studies are performed using male mice. The histopathological mechanisms underlying AD development were investigated here in male mice at a pre-lesional stage using a human AD-like mouse model. Hypodermal cellular infiltration without thickening of skin layers was observed after one epicutaneous exposure to antigen ovalbumin (OVA), compared to controls. In contrast to our previous report using female mice, OVA treatment did not activate skin mast cells (MC) or elevate sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) levels while increasing systemic but not local levels of CCL2, CCL3 and CCL5 chemokines. In contrast to the pathogenic AD mechanisms we recently uncovered in female, S1P-mediated skin MC activation with subsequent local chemokine production is not observed in male mice, supporting sex differences in pre-lesional stages of AD. We are proposing that differential involvement of the MC/S1P axis in early pathogenic skin changes contributes to the well documented yet still incompletely understood sex-dimorphic susceptibility to AD in humans.