Oral Administration of T Cell Epitope Peptide Inhibits the Systemic IL-4 Response Elicited by an Egg-White Diet in a TCR Transgenic Mouse Model

Oral immunotherapy with T cell epitope peptides is a promising treatment for food allergy. We examined the effect of oral administration of an ovalbumin T cell epitope peptide (OVA323-339) in a TCR transgenic mouse model (OVA23-3 mice). OVA23-3 mice were fed egg-white diet containing ovalbumin and subsequently orally administrated the OVA323-339 peptide. Cytokine measurements revealed that the IL-4 production of splenic CD4(+) T cells was significantly decreased by feeding the OVA323-339 peptide. Our study suggested that oral administration of the OVA323-339 T cell epitope peptide was capable of inhibiting systemic IL-4 response after elicitation of predominant Th2 responses.