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Infection and Immunity, August 2001, p. 4898-4905, Vol. 69, No. 8
Departments of Microbiology and
Immunology1 and Population Medicine and
Diagnostic Sciences,2 College of Veterinary
Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-6401
Received 14 February 2001/Returned for modification 27 March
2001/Accepted 14 May 2001
The immunomodulatory role of neutrophils during infection with
Toxoplasma gondii was investigated. Monoclonal
antibody-mediated depletion revealed that neutrophils are essential for
survival during the first few days of infection. Moreover, neutrophil
depletion was associated with a weaker type 1 immune response as
measured by decreased levels of gamma interferon, interleukin-12
(IL-12) and tumor necrosis factor alpha. IL-10 was also decreased in
depleted animals. Additionally, splenic populations of CD4+
T cells, CD8+ T cells, and NK1.1+ cells were
decreased in depleted mice. Neutrophil-depleted mice exhibited lesions
of greater severity in tissues examined and a greater parasite burden
as determined by histopathology and reverse transcription-PCR. We
conclude that neutrophils are critical near the time of infection
because they influence the character of the immune response and control
tachyzoite replication.
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.8.4898-4905.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Neutrophil Depletion during Toxoplasma
gondii Infection Leads to Impaired Immunity and Lethal
Systemic Pathology
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6401. Phone: (607) 253-4022; Fax: (607)
253-3384. E-mail: eyd1{at}cornell.edu.
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