GENETIC-BASIS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST EXPERIMENTAL VAGINAL CANDIDIASISBY PERIPHERAL IMMUNIZATION

In these studies, significant protection against experimental vaginal candidiasis after a subcutaneous immunization with Candida albicans ex tract was achieved in BALB/c mice but not in C57BL/6 (B6) mice. Protec tion from vaginal candidiasis was transferred to naive BALB/c mice by a population of spleen cells derived from immunized BALB/c mice. Remov al of CD3 or CD4 but not CD8 T cells before transfer completely abroga ted resistance to vaginal candidiasis. Recombinant inbred (RI) strains of mice derived from BALB/c and B6 strains were used for mapping loci that might be responsible for regulating vaginal protection after sub cutaneous immunization, Linkage analysis using microsatellite-based ge nome mapping in these RI strains revealed four candidate loci on chrom osomes 3, 7, 8, and 18 that exhibit statistically significant linkage to the strain distribution pattern. These results may contribute to th e understanding of host genetic factors controlling the immune respons e to vaginal infections.