Induction of Sustained Tolerance towards Experimental ConA Hepatitis Depends on CD4+ T and NKT Cells

Objective: In mice, a single i.v. injection of the T cell mitogen Concanavalin A (ConA) leads to severe acute T cell and Kupffer Cell (KC) dependent hepatitis. Following a sublethal treatment of ConA, mice develop resistance towards hepatitis after additional ConA injections within 8 days. This resistance is characterized by regulatory T cell and KC derived IL-10 dependent immunoregulation. However, IL-10 production was less regulated during sustained tolerance observed between 14 and 42 days. Here we investigated the role for B cells, CD4+ T and NKT cells, Tregs and KCs in the induction of long-lasting liver to…