Concentrations Of Metal Ions In Murine Nickel Allergy And Its Cross-Reactions: Effects Of Lipopolysaccharide

Few adequate animal models for metal allergies have existed so far. However, we found that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) promotes and augments metal allergies in mice and established a murine model close to the actual situations. Here, we investigated the effects of LPS on metal concentrations and on cross-reactions in this murine model. LPS markedly reduced the threshold concentration at both sensitization and elicitation steps in Ni allergy and at its cross-reactions. Our findings suggest that the bacterial milieu is a critically important factor leading to metal allergies.