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Infection and Immunity, August 1999, p. 4143-4148, Vol. 67, No. 8
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Roles of CD4+ T Cells and Gamma Interferon in Protective Immunity against Babesia microti Infection in Mice

Ikuo Igarashi,1,* Reiko Suzuki,2 Seiji Waki,3 Yoh-Ichi Tagawa,4 Seyha Seng,1 Sothyra Tum,1 Yoshitaka Omata,2 Atsushi Saito,2 Hideyuki Nagasawa,1 Yohichiro Iwakura,4 Naoyoshi Suzuki,1 Takeshi Mikami,1 and Yutaka Toyoda1

The Research Center for Protozoan Molecular Immunology1 and Department of Veterinary Physiology,2 Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Gunma Prefectural College of Health Science, Maebashi,3 and Institute of Medical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo,4 Japan

Received 11 January 1999/Returned for modification 26 February 1999/Accepted 27 May 1999

Babesia microti produces a self-limiting infection in mice, and recovered mice are resistant to reinfection. In the present study, the role of T cells in protective immunity against challenge infection was examined. BALB/c mice which recovered from primary infection showed strong protective immunity against challenge infection. In contrast, nude mice which failed to control the primary infection and were cured with an antibabesial drug did not show protection against challenge infection. Treatment of immune mice with anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody (MAb) diminished the protective immunity against challenge infection, but treatment with anti-CD8 MAb had no effect on the protection. Transfer of CD4+ T-cell-depleted spleen cells resulted in higher parasitemia than transfer of CD8+ T-cell-depleted spleen cells. A high level of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma ), which was produced by CD4+ T cells, was observed for the culture supernatant of spleen cells from immune mice, and treatment of immune mice with anti-IFN-gamma MAb partially reduced the protection. Moreover, no protection against challenge infection was found in IFN-gamma -deficient mice. On the other hand, treatment of immune mice with MAbs against interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, or tumor necrosis factor alpha did not affect protective immunity. These results suggest essential requirements for CD4+ T cells and IFN-gamma in protective immunity against challenge infection with B. microti.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: The Research Center for Protozoan Molecular Immunology, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan. Phone: 81-155-49-5641. Fax: 81-155-49-5643. E-mail: igarcpmi{at}obihiro.ac.jp.

Infection and Immunity, August 1999, p. 4143-4148, Vol. 67, No. 8
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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