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Title: IMMUNE RESPONSES IN THE BOVINE GUT FOLLOWING INFECTION WITH HELMINTH AND PROTOZOAN PARASITES

Author
item Gasbarre, Louis
item ALMERIA, S - INIA
item Canals, Ana
item PASQUALI, PAOLO - UNIV. DEGLI STUDI PERUGIA
item STROMBERG, B - UNIV. OF MINNESOTA
item Fayer, Ronald
item Zarlenga, Dante

Submitted to: Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/28/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Methods to isolate and characterize lymphocyte sub-populations from the stomach and small intestine of cattle were developed to define local immune responses after infection by gastrointestinal parasites. Cell populations sampled were draining lymph nodes, lamina propria lymphocytes (LPL), and intra-epithelial lymphocytes (IEL). Characterization of cell populations was accomplished by flow cytometry for surface markers of T and B cells, and by competitive RT-PCR for bovine IL2, IL4, IL10, IL12 (p35 and p40 subunits), IL15, and G-IFN. Infection by the abomasal nematode, Ostertagia ostertagi, increased the percentage of both immunoglobulin and GD-TCR+ cells, and reduced the percentages of CD3+ and CD4+ T cells. These changes in surface phenotype were accompanied by increased levels of mRNA for IL4 and G-IFN, and decreased levels of IL2. These changes were seen in all cell populations tested. In contrast, infections with the intestinal protozoa Eimeria bovis and Cryptosporidium parvum resulted in responses that were more restricted to the mucosal populations. In IEL and LPL there were marked increases in the number and percentage of AB-TCR cell populations, especially in C. parvum- infected neonates, where most of the cells recovered from the intestinal mucosa after infection were CD8+. The changes in cell surface marker phenotype corresponded to increased levels of G-IFN mRNA in both IEL and LPL. (9402262-NRI-CGP-USDA)