Description
Tolerogenic dendritic cells (DCs) induce regulatory T-cells and dampen pathogenic T-cell responses. Hereby, they have gained interest as a therapeutic target in the combat against autoimmune diseases. In this study we investigated whether tolerogenic DCs are induced by the phytonutrient carvacrol, a molecule with known anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, bone marrow derived DCs were treated with carvacrol in combination with thermal stress. Gene expression profiles were obtained by microarray analysis to test for an induced tolerogenic phenotype. To investigate the tolerogenic properties of treated DCs in vivo, T-cell anergy or the induction of a regulatory T-cell phenotype was studied in antigen specific T-cells. Finally, treated DCs were tested by transfer into an experimental arthritis model.