Analysis of the mechanism for the development of allergic skin inflammation and the application for its treatment:mouse models for the development of remedies for human allergic dermatitis.

Animal models for human diseases are important for the elucidation of mechanisms involved in as well as for the establishment of effective treatment strategies for the diseases. Many mouse allergic dermatitis models have been established and applied for the development of remedies for human allergic dermatitis. One of the simplest allergic cutaneous reaction models is passive cutaneous anaphylaxis. Skin mast cells passively sensitized with antigen-specific IgE are activated upon antigen challenge to cause vascular permeability increase. The triphasic cutaneous reaction is another interesting model in which triphasic cutaneous swelling appears in mice passively sensitized with IgE upon challenge with specific antigen. Recently, many allergic dermatitis models have been established by repeated antigen exposure. Although the induced dermatitis seems to be complex, these models may possess the characteristic features observed in patients. Naturally occurring dermatitis model mice such as NC/Nga, NOA, and DS-Nh mice, and gene-knockout and transgenic mice exhibiting spontaneous dermatitis are also known. Establishment and characterization of the mouse dermatitis models seem to be important for understanding dermatitis and development of new strategies for the treatment of these diseases.