REDUCED AMOUNT OF INTESTINAL MUCUS BY TREATMENT WITH ANTI-CD4 ANTIBODY INTERFERES WITH THE SPONTANEOUS CURE OF NIPPOSTRONGYLUS BRASILIENSIS-INFECTION IN MICE
Wi. Khan et al., REDUCED AMOUNT OF INTESTINAL MUCUS BY TREATMENT WITH ANTI-CD4 ANTIBODY INTERFERES WITH THE SPONTANEOUS CURE OF NIPPOSTRONGYLUS BRASILIENSIS-INFECTION IN MICE, Parasite immunology, 17(9), 1995, pp. 485-491
Mechanism of spontaneous cure was studied in mice infected with mouse-
nonadaptive Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Adult BALB/c mice were cured
spontaneously of infection with this strain of N. brasiliensis by Day
7 post-infection. Expulsion of intestinal worms was delayed dose-depe
ndently by a treatment with anti-CD4 antibody. However, the treatment
had no significant effect on larval recovery from the lungs. Treatment
of mice with anti-IL-5 antibody suppressed intestinal tissue eosinoph
ilia induced by the infection, but did not affect intestinal worm reco
very. Antigen specific IgE antibody was not detected in the sera obtai
ned from Days 5 to 15. Therefore, IL-5 and specific IgE antibody are p
robably not important in the spontaneous cure. Treatment of mice with
anti-CD4 antibody had no significant effect on number of intestinal go
blet cells or on expression of terminal sugars of goblet cell mucins.
However, histological and quantitative analyses revealed that signific
antly less intestinal mucus was released in anti-CD4 antibody treated
mice than in control mice. These results suggest that CD4(+) lymphocyt
es control the amount of intestinal mucus and consequently the reduced
mucus interferes with the spontaneous cure. Quantity of mucus release
d in the intestinal lumen may have an essential role in the spontaneou
s cure of N. brasiliensis-infection of mice.