Gastric administration of type II collagen delays the onset and severity of collagen-induced arthritis in rats.

Rats were per-gastrically dosed by gavage with collagen type II (CII) in solution and were shown, as a result, to be subsequently resistant to the induction of disease by CII administered parenterally in Freund's incomplete adjuvant. Disease onset was delayed and the severity was reduced. There was no concomitant reduction in the systemic antibody response to CII. Gavage with CII did not in itself induce systemic anti-CII antibodies and did not cause symptoms of arthritis. The results indicate that materials specifically cross-reactive with autoantigens can be absorbed through the gut and can modify susceptibility to autoimmune disease.