Effects of anti-CD4 antibody treatment on calcium ions influx in peanut-sensitized C3H/HeJ mice

The precise mechanism underlying the effects of anti-CD4 antibody and calcium ions (Ca2+) in peanut allergy remains unknown. C3H/HeJ mice sensitized with peanut protein extract (PPE) were injected with anti-CD4 antibodies for 4 weeks. Stimulation with PPE increased the specific immunoglobulin E (IgE), cytokine, histamine, and mMcp-1 levels, upregulated decorin (Dcn) expression, induced Ca2+ inflow in the spleen, and augmented the expression of the transcription factors GATA-3 and Foxp3, which resulted in Th2 and Treg cell activation. Notably, the Ca2+ levels were positively correlated with the histamine, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, and IL-13 levels, and negatively correlated with IL-10 levels. However, administration of anti-CD4 antibodies markedly alleviated allergic symptoms, activated T cells, and reduced Ca2+ inflow, cytokine, histamine, mMcp-1, and the IgHG3, CXCL12, MMP2 and FABP4 gene. Our results indicated that anti-CD4 antibodies can ameliorate PPE-induced allergy, which is probably related to the suppression of Ca2+ inflow, and inhibiting histamine, cytokine and IgHG3, CXCL12, MMP2, and FABP4, thus exerting a protective effect against PPE -sensitized food allergy.(c) 2023 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).