Wasp venom allergy: effect of anti-IgE antibody on wasp venom anaphylaxis in a mouse model

Background: Although anti-IgE antibody (Ab) therapy was recently shown to be effective in patients with bronchial asthma, no study has reported the effect of IgE therapy in the prevention of wasp venom anaphylaxis. In this study, we used a mouse model of wasp venom allergy to investigate the effect of anti-IgE Ab on wasp venom anaphylaxis. Methods: We developed a mouse model of wasp venom allergy by intraperitoneally (i.p.) injecting wasp venom into BALB/c mice twice on experimental day (day) 0 and 7. On day 20, a group of mice received an i.p. injection of mouse anti-IgE Ab as a pretreatment, and another group received rat anti-IgG1 Ab. On day 21, the animals were challenged by i.p. injection of wasp venom, and 30 min later, body temperature was measured and serum levels of leukotriene (LT) B4 and LTC4 were determined using enzyme immunoassay. Results: The body temperature of mice treated with anti-IgE Ab and controls before and after wasp venom challenge was 37.8 +/- 0.2 vs 37.7 +/- 0.3 degrees C before challenge and 37.8 +/- 0.2 vs 37.1 +/- 0.3 degrees C after challenge, respectively, showing that anti-IgE Ab treatment significantly prevented body temperature from falling (p <0.05). Furthermore, anti-IgE Ab treatment reduced total serum IgE levels in the treated mice (42.2 +/- 15.9 pg/ml), compared with controls (105.9 +/- 23.1 pg/ml, p <0.05), and inhibited the secretion of LTC4 in the treated mice (32.0 +/- 18.8 pg/ml), but not in the controls (162.4 +/- 12.4 pg/ml, p <0.05), following challenge with wasp venom. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that anti-IgE Ab treatment is an effective preventive measure against wasp venom-induced anaphylaxis.