Induction of clonal anergy by oral administration of staphylococcal enterotoxin B.

The staphylococcal enterotoxin is a major cause of food poisoning. The bacterial substance stimulates T cells expressing specific V beta T cell receptors (TcR) and is termed "the superantigen". We have previously demonstrated that intravenous injection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) induces functional unresponsiveness (anergy) of reactive T cells as well as a partial deletion by activation-induced programmed cell death. In the present study, we examined the effect of oral administration of SEB in mice. Our results indicate that spleen T cells from SEB-primed mice are hyporesponsive to SEB stimulation in vitro, but the response to SEA was normal. V beta 8+ T cells purified from SEB-primed mice did not respond to stimulation of TcR. This SEB-specific unresponsiveness could not be reversed by exogenous interleukin-2, but was partially reversed by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. Activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase during TcR-mediated stimulation was significantly inhibited in anergic T cells. Although the mechanisms of oral tolerance are not well understood, these results show that oral administration of SEB induce clonal anergy in peripheral T cells.