Development of allergic conjunctivitis induced by Acanthamoeba excretory-secretory protein and the effect of resolvin D1 on treatment

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To evaluate whether allergic conjunctivitis (AC) could be induced by Acanthamoeba excretory-secretory protein (ESP) and analyze the therapeutic effect of resolvin (Rv) D1 and antiallergic agents.

Methods

Human conjunctival epithelial cells (HCVCs) were treated with 10 µg/well of ESP, and Th2 cytokines were measured using real-time PCR. C57BL/6 mice were treated with 10 µg/5 µL of ESP after sensitization, and conjunctivas isolated from the mice were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) for the analysis of eosinophils and periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) for the analysis of goblet cells. Cytokine levels in the eye-draining lymph nodes (dLNs) and spleens were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Then, the treatment effects of RvD1 and the antiallergic agents (olopatadine, bepotastine, and alcaftadine) on the HCVCs, mouse conjunctivas, dLNs, and spleens were assessed.

Results

Th2 cytokines were increased in the ESP-treated conjunctival cells. Mouse conjunctivas treated with ESP showed significant infiltration of eosinophils and goblet cells, and the dLN and spleen exhibited increased IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 levels. All findings were significantly decreased upon treatment with RvD1 and the antiallergic agents.

Conclusions

Acanthamoeba could be used to establish an animal model of AC, which could be effectively treated with RvD1 or topical antiallergic agents.

KEYWORDS:

• Acanthamoeba
• allergic conjunctivitis
• excretory-secretory protein
• resolvin D1
• topical antiallergic agents

Declaration of interest

None of the following authors have any proprietary interest or conflicts of interest related to this submission.

Data availability statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are currently under embargo while the research findings are commercialized. Requests for data, after publication of this article, will be considered by the corresponding author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by funding provided by National Research Foundation funded by the Ministry of Science, Information and Communication Technology (NRF-2020R1A2C10099751), Biomedical Research Institute Grant (2018- 21) from Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan, Korea.