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Infection and Immunity, November 1998, p. 5157-5166, Vol. 66, No. 11
Immunobiology Section, Laboratory of
Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
20892-04251;
Veterinary and Tumor
Pathology Section,
Received 23 June 1998/Accepted 11 August 1998
Mice rendered deficient in interleukin-10 (IL-10) by gene targeting
(IL-10 Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is
thought to be the consequence of an aberrant mucosal immune response
which damages tissues of the intestinal tract (22, 30, 34).
It is not clear, however, whether this response is directed against
self antigens (Ag) or gut-dwelling flora. In the case of both forms of
IBD, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, studies in experimental
animals have suggested that disease may be triggered by a cytokine
imbalance. Thus, a variety of different genetically immunodeficient
mice have been shown to develop chronic inflammation of the colon, and
in many of the strains the observed tissue damage is associated with
alterations in systemic and/or local cytokine production (8, 16,
19, 29). This association is perhaps clearest in mice deficient
for interleukin-10 (IL-10), a major down-regulator of both macrophage
and T-cell function. These animals spontaneously develop chronic
inflammation of the lower intestinal tract, and this IBD-like syndrome
has been shown to depend on excess gamma interferon (IFN- The markedly diminished enterocolitis seen in SPF-reared
IL-10 In the present study, we show that SPF-reared IL-10 Experimental animals and infections.
Six- to nine-week-old,
SPF IL-10 Microbiology.
Fecal and cecal samples were collected
aseptically in brain heart infusion broth with horse serum and yeast
extract (Remel Laboratories, Lenexa, Kans.). Suspensions of these
materials were passed through a 0.45-µm-pore-size filter. Filtered
material was spread over brucella agar with horse blood, trimethoprim,
vancomycin, and polymyxin (Remel Laboratories) and incubated at 37°C
under microaerophilic conditions for up to 5 days. Observed growth was tested for oxidase and rapid urease (selective rapid urease test; Remel
Laboratories) reactions.
Pathology.
Mice were necropsied, and cecum, colon, rectum,
and liver tissues were fixed in Bouin's fixative or 10% neutral
buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin, sectioned at 5 µm, and
stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) or with modified Steiner's
silver stain (11). Selected tissues fixed in Bouin's
fixative were used for immunohistochemical staining of T and B cells
with a polyclonal rabbit anti-human CD3 antibody (Ab) (cross-reacts
with mouse CD3; DAKO Corp., Carpinteria, Calif.) and an anti-mouse B220
monoclonal Ab (MAb) (PharMingen, San Diego, Calif.), respectively, and
an ABC Vectastain Elite kit (Vector Laboratories Inc., Burlingame,
Calif.).
Ag.
Soluble Helicobacter Ag (SHelAg) was prepared
from cultures of H. hepaticus. The organisms were harvested
and washed extensively in PBS, and the resulting suspension was
sonicated at 4°C to lyse the bacteria. Cell debris was removed by
centrifugation at 8,000 × g (Sorvall RC2-B, SS-34
rotor) for 30 min at 4°C. The supernatant was sterile filtered
(0.22-µm-pore-size filter), protein content determined by Bradford
(Pierce, Rockford, Ill.), and the Ag was stored at Cell preparations.
Single-cell suspensions were prepared
from spleens and MLN, splenic erythrocytes were lysed by osmotic
treatment, and cells were resuspended in tissue culture medium (RPMI
1640 supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum, 100 U of
penicillin per ml, 100 µg of streptomycin per ml, 2 mM glutamine, 20 mM HEPES, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acids, and 50 µM 2-mercaptoethanol). Experiments were performed with splenocyte suspensions from either individual mice or pools obtained by mixing equal numbers of cells from each animal within a group and with MLN
cells pooled from two to four mice per group.
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Helicobacter hepaticus Triggers Colitis
in Specific-Pathogen-Free Interleukin-10 (IL-10)-Deficient Mice through
an IL-12- and Gamma Interferon-Dependent Mechanism
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ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
/
mice) develop chronic enterocolitis resembling
human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) when maintained in conventional
animal facilities. However, they display a minimal and delayed
intestinal inflammatory response when reared under
specific-pathogen-free (SPF) conditions, suggesting the involvement of
a microbial component in pathogenesis. We show here that experimental
infection with a single bacterial agent, Helicobacter
hepaticus, induces chronic colitis in SPF-reared IL-10
/
mice and that the disease is accompanied by a
type 1 cytokine response (gamma interferon [IFN-
], tumor necrosis
factor alpha, and nitric oxide) detected by restimulation of spleen and
mesenteric lymph node cells with a soluble H. hepaticus
antigen (Ag) preparation. In contrast, wild-type (WT) animals infected
with the same bacteria did not develop disease and produced IL-10 as
the dominant cytokine in response to Helicobacter Ag.
Strong H. hepaticus-reactive antibody responses as measured
by Ag-specific total immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3,
and IgA were observed in both WT and IL-10
/
mice. In
vivo neutralization of IFN-
or IL-12 resulted in a significant
reduction of intestinal inflammation in H. hepaticus-infected IL-10
/
mice, suggesting an
important role for these cytokines in the development of colitis in the
model. Taken together, these microbial reconstitution experiments
formally establish that a defined bacterial agent can serve as the
immunological target in the development of large bowel inflammation in
IL-10
/
mice and argue that in nonimmunocompromised
hosts IL-10 stimulated in response to intestinal flora is important in
preventing IBD.
![]()
INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
)
production by CD4+ T cells generated in the absence of
IL-10 suppression (2, 14). An important aspect of the
intestinal disease occurring in IL-10-deficient
(IL-10
/
) mice is that it is less severe and delayed in
onset when the animals are bred and maintained under
specific-pathogen-free (SPF) conditions. In that situation, the
inflammation is initially limited to the proximal colon
(14), but in mice with the appropriate genetic backgrounds
it can eventually involve all regions of the large bowel
(2).
/
mice suggests that components of the intestinal
flora may promote or be the targets of the dysregulated inflammatory
response encountered in conventionally maintained animals of this
strain. A common gut pathogen encountered in animal facilities is
Helicobacter hepaticus. This urease-producing
Helicobacter species colonizes the large bowel of mice and
in some inbred strains is also found in the gallbladder and liver,
where it is frequently associated with chronic active hepatitis and
liver tumors. The organism was originally isolated from A/JCr mice
(9, 35, 37) and subsequently found to be associated with
inflammatory large bowel disease in immunodeficient nude and
scid mice (36). Some mouse strains such as
C57BL/6 can serve as carriers of the infection but are resistant to
clinical disease or histological lesions (35-37). H. hepaticus has been cultured from several different immunodeficient animals, including IL-10
/
mice (34a), and
has also been found in inflammatory bowel lesions of mice lacking the
common cytokine receptor
chain (4).
/
mice experimentally infected with H. hepaticus develop an
intestinal inflammatory disease which in part resembles that seen in
conventionally maintained IL-10-deficient animals. The observed
pathology is accompanied by an excessive type 1 cytokine response which
is lacking in wild-type (WT [IL-10-sufficient]) mice receiving
similar inocula. Together the data support the concept that IBD is
elicited in response to specific agents in gut flora and establish a
defined animal model for studying the role of the microbial component
in its pathogenesis.
![]()
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
/
mice backcrossed to C57BL/10SgSnAi and WT
C57BL/10SgSnAi mice, both free of all Helicobacter species,
were obtained from Taconic Farms (Germantown, N.Y.). The
IL-10
/
animals (originally obtained from R. Kühn
and W. Müller, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany)
(14) used in our experiments were from the 7th and 10th
backcross generations. No differences were apparent in the results
obtained from the mice in the two backcross generations. Initial
experiments were performed with male and female mice. As similar
results were obtained for both sexes, female animals were used in the
subsequent experiments. The animals were housed in sterile
microisolator cages with autoclaved bedding, food, and water at the
animal facility of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Guide
for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (20a) under
an animal study proposal approved by the NIAID Animal Care and Use
Committee. In a separate experiment, animals were housed in a sterile
biobubble (flexible film isolator; Harlan Isotec, Blackthorn, England).
Before use, the biobubble was decontaminated by paraformaldehyde gas.
All supplies going into the unit were autoclaved prior to entry, with
autoclave efficacy assessed by using sterilization monitors. These
supplies, as well as SPF mice arriving directly from Taconic Farms,
were allowed to enter the biobubble through a transfer cylinder.
40°C until use.
Flow cytometric analysis. MLN samples were stained with phycoerythrin-conjugated anti-CD4 MAb RM4-5 and fluorescein-isothiocyanate-conjugated anti-CD44 (Pgp-1) MAb IM7 (both from PharMingen). After addition of propidium iodide to exclude dead cells, lymphocytes were analyzed on a FACScan flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson).
Culture conditions. To measure proliferative responses, splenocytes (2.5 × 106/ml) and MLN cells (1.5 × 106/ml) were cultured in medium alone or with titrating amounts of SHelAg in flat-bottomed 96-well plates in a total volume of 0.2 ml/well at 37°C and 5% CO2. Cultures were pulsed with [3H]thymidine (1 µCi/well; specific activity, 2 Ci/mmol; New England Nuclear Corp., Boston, Mass.) after 48 h of incubation and harvested 18 h later to determine incorporated [3H]thymidine.
To measure cytokine responses, spleen cells (5 × 106/ml) and total and T-cell-depleted MLN cell populations (3 × 106/ml, based on cell counts before T-cell depletion) were cultured in medium alone or with 0.3 to 1 µg of SHelAg per ml in flat-bottomed 24-well plates in a total volume of 1 to 1.2 ml/well, and supernatants were collected after 72 h.Cytokine assays.
IFN-
and IL-10 were measured by two-site
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (20, 31). The
amount of cytokine was quantitated by comparison to standard curves of
recombinant IFN-
(rIFN-
; Genzyme, Cambridge, Mass.) and rIL-10
(PharMingen), respectively. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-
) was
measured with an ELISA kit purchased from Genzyme.
Nitric oxide (NO) measurements.
Nitrate
(NO2
) levels were used as an indicator of
reactive nitrogen intermediates in samples and were measured by Griess
assay (12). Briefly, 50-µl aliquots of supernatant were
added in duplicate to 96-well plates followed by 50 µl of a 1:1
mixture of 1% sulfanilamide dihydrochloride (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) in
2.5% H3PO4 and 0.1% naphthylenediamide
dihydrochloride (Sigma) in 2.5% H3PO4. After a
10-min incubation at room temperature, the absorbance of the samples
(550 nm) was read spectrophotometrically, and amounts of nitrate were
determined by comparison with a standard curve generated with sodium
nitrate (NaNO2; Sigma).
Ab measurements. Abs reactive to Helicobacter Ag were measured by ELISA. Briefly, 96-well Immunolon 2 plates (Dynex Technologies Inc., Chantilly, Va.) were coated with SHelAg (8 µg/ml; 50 µl/well) in 0.05 M sodium carbonate (pH 9.6) at 4°C overnight. After a 1-h blocking step with 5% milk at 37°C, sera were added to the wells at different dilutions and the plates were incubated at 4°C overnight. Thereafter, peroxidase-conjugated rabbit Ab specific for mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3, or IgA (all from Zymed Laboratories, Inc., San Francisco, Calif.) was added for 3 h at 37°C. Color reactions were developed by addition of 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazolinesulfonic acid) (ABTS) substrate (Kirkegaard & Perry, Inc., Gaithersburg, Md.), and optical density was measured at 405 nm with an ELISA reader (Molecular Devices, Menlo Park, Calif.).
In vivo MAb treatment.
To analyze the effect of in vivo
neutralization of IFN-
or IL-12, IL-10
/
mice were
injected i.p. with 1 mg of MAb XMG-6 (anti-IFN-
) (5), MAb
C17.8 (anti-IL-12, generated in the laboratory of G. Trinchieri) (38), or control MAb GL113 (anti-
-galactosidase) in 0.5 ml of PBS on days
1, 2, 5, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, and 26. Mice were inoculated i.p. with H. hepaticus on day 0 as described
above, and tissues were processed for histology 4 weeks later.
Statistics. Data were analyzed by Student's two-tailed t test, and differences with P values of <0.05 were considered significant.
| |
RESULTS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Bacterial infections.
Wild-type C57BL/10 and
IL-10
/
mice inoculated i.p. or i.g. with H. hepaticus developed large bowel infections as determined by fecal
culture 14 days later. The infections persisted in both strains of
mice, as H. hepaticus could be grown from fecal samples collected at later time points as well as from cecal contents obtained
at the time of necropsy (up to 16 weeks after bacterial inoculation).
Uninfected mice were negative for H. hepaticus throughout the experiments.
Intestinal histopathology of H. hepaticus-infected WT and uninfected IL-10-deficient mice. WT mice inoculated i.p. with H. hepaticus showed minimal histopathological changes when necropsied at 2 to 16 weeks. These consisted of small lymphocytic foci in the cecum (Fig. 1A and B; Table 1). A similar pattern was seen when WT mice inoculated i.g. were examined at 4 and 11 weeks postinfection (not shown).
|
|
/
mice
introduced into our conventional animal facility developed severe
intestinal lesions including colitis and rectal prolapse by 14 weeks of
age (32a), the same pathologic syndrome was not observed
after caesarean rederivation of the strain into an SPF facility
(Taconic Farms) and further backcrossing. The SPF-reared
IL-10
/
animals used as uninfected controls (Fig. 1C;
Table 1) showed only minimal differences from uninfected WT mice when
examined at 2 to 16 weeks after initiation of the experiment. Some
uninfected IL-10
/
mice showed a small increase in
CD3+ lymphocytes in the lamina propria of the cecum,
although to levels far less than those observed in infected WT animals.
Exacerbated inflammatory response of IL-10-deficient mice to
H. hepaticus.
IL-10-deficient mice infected i.p. with
H. hepaticus showed gross large bowel lesions as early as 2 weeks after bacterial inoculation. In particular, the ceca of infected
IL-10
/
mice were obviously smaller and paler (due to
thickening of the intestinal wall) than those of uninfected
IL-10-deficient or infected WT animals (Fig. 2A to
C).
|
/
animals showed histopathological
changes including moderate to severe inflammation of the cecum and mild
inflammation of the colon and rectum (Table 1). The cecal lesions
consisted of infiltration of lymphocytes, neutrophils, and macrophages
into the lamina propria, with most of the lymphocytes staining positive
for the pan-T-cell marker CD3 (Fig. 1D). Characteristic of an acute
inflammatory response, lesions in 2-week-infected
IL-10
/
mice had the highest numbers of neutrophils,
while the proportion of these cells decreased at later time points.
Plasma cells and focal collections of B220+ B lymphocytes
were first noted in lesions at 4 weeks and increased in number as the
infection proceeded into the chronic phase. The inflammation extended
into the submucosa in mice infected for
9 weeks. Diffuse hyperplasia
of the cecal epithelium (Fig. 2D) was observed from 2 weeks after
infection, while more focal hyperplasia was first seen after 4 weeks,
being more widespread and severe in 9- to 16-week-infected mice. The
focal hyperplasia was often atypical, with hyperchromatic epithelium,
many mitotic figures, and disruption of the muscularis mucosa (Fig.
2E).
Colonic and rectal lesions were always much less severe than those in
the cecum and consisted of diffuse and focal epithelial hyperplasia
along with accumulations of inflammatory cells in the lamina propria
(Fig. 1F). Such changes were usually absent in equivalent sections from
uninfected IL-10
/
(Fig. 1E) or infected WT (not shown)
animals. Although not systematically surveyed, gastric and small
intestinal lesions were not observed in any of the mice as determined
by both gross and histological examination.
Examination of Steiner-stained sections from infected
IL-10
/
mice revealed numerous helical bacteria within
hyperplastic crypts of cecum (Fig. 2F) and fewer in colon and rectum.
Bacteria were also observed within cecal crypts of infected WT mice but
not of uninfected IL-10
/
or WT animals (not shown).
Liver lesions (focal inflammation, granulomas, and occasional necrosis)
were found often in infected IL-10
/
and WT mice but
rarely in uninfected controls. The lesions were observed after i.p. but
not i.g. inoculation of the bacteria. No progressive hepatitis was
seen, and Steiner-stained sections revealed no bacteria within hepatic
lesions.
In the experiments described above, the bacteria were inoculated i.p.
and were presumably transported to the intestine via the biliary tract.
To confirm that the observed large bowel lesions in infected
IL-10
/
mice were not dependent on the i.p. route of
bacterial inoculation, H. hepaticus infections were
initiated by i.g. administration. At 4 and 11 weeks postinoculation,
these i.g.-infected IL-10
/
animals displayed the same
intestinal histological changes as IL-10
/
mice infected
in parallel by the i.p. route (data not shown). Thus, for convenience,
i.p. inoculation was used for routine infections of mice.
While the IL-10
/
and WT mice were bred in an SPF
facility, H. hepaticus infections were performed in a
conventional animal room where other pathogens might be present. In an
attempt to rule out the possible involvement of contaminating microbial
agents in the induction of large bowel lesions by H. hepaticus, a separate i.p. infection experiment was performed in a
sterile biobubble. Intestinal inflammatory changes indistinguishable
from those documented in IL-10
/
mice infected in
parallel outside the biobubble were observed at 4 and 10 weeks
postinfection in these animals (data not shown).
H. hepaticus-infected WT and IL-10-deficient mice
display T-cell proliferative and Ab responses to a soluble bacterial Ag
preparation.
To study the cellular immune response to H. hepaticus, spleen and MLN cells from infected WT and
IL-10
/
mice were stimulated in vitro with SHelAg, a
soluble Ag preparation prepared from the same bacterial strain. The
results of a representative experiment in which proliferation to
increasing doses of SHelAg was assayed at 4 weeks after bacterial
infection are shown in Fig. 3. Ag
dose-dependent proliferative responses were observed with spleen cells
from both WT and IL-10
/
mice, with no significant
differences (Fig. 3A). Spleen cells from uninfected animals showed only
marginal background proliferation to SHelAg, and this only at the
highest Ag concentrations. In contrast, MLN cells from 4-week H. hepaticus-infected IL-10
/
mice displayed a
stronger proliferative response than equivalent populations from WT
animals (Fig. 3B). Although MLN of infected IL-10
/
animals were larger than those of infected WT mice, the higher proliferative capacity in vitro did not reflect an increased percentage of activated T cells. Thus, the percentages of both CD4+
and CD4+ CD44+ cells were comparable in MLN of
4- to 5-week-infected WT versus IL-10
/
animals
(CD4+ cells, mean ± standard deviation [SD] = 37.8% ± 1.4% versus 34.8% ± 2.9%, respectively; CD4+
CD44+ cells, 4.0% ± 0.5% versus 4.0% ± 0.6%,
respectively) (data pooled from three independent experiments). No
significant SHelAg-induced proliferation was observed with MLN cells
from uninfected controls.
|
/
mice, animals were bled 16 weeks after
H. hepaticus inoculation and sera were analyzed for total
anti-SHelAg IgG by ELISA. Both strains of mice showed comparable high
titers of anti-SHelAg IgG (Fig. 4). No
SHelAg-reactive Ab was detected in sera from uninfected WT or
IL-10
/
mice. Furthermore, comparable titers of
SHelAg-specific IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, and IgG3 as well as Ag-specific IgA
were found in infected IL-10
/
and WT animals, with only
slightly higher levels of IgA in the IL-10-deficient mice (Fig. 4).
Results were similar for a second experiment in which Ab were analyzed
at 4 weeks postinfection (not shown).
|
Altered cytokine response of IL-10-deficient mice to H. hepaticus.
To characterize cytokine responses elicited in WT and
IL-10
/
mice following H. hepaticus
infection, an initial experiment was performed in which splenocytes
were stimulated with SHelAg and 72-h supernatants were assayed for
various lymphokines. Splenocytes from infected WT animals secreted
substantial amounts of IL-10, but no significant IFN-
, TNF-
, or
NO, when stimulated with Ag (Fig. 5). In
contrast, infected IL-10
/
mice mounted a strong type 1 response to SHelAg, as evidenced by spleen cell production of IFN-
,
TNF-
, and NO (Fig. 5B to D).
|
/
mice produced IFN-
and
TNF-
in response to SHelAg (Fig. 6). In general, the cytokine secretion by MLN cells appeared to peak early
during the infection, with highest lymphokine levels observed at the
2-week time point. In contrast to spleen cells, NO production by MLN
cells was detected only at the 2-week time point and only at low levels
(data not shown). Minimal or no SHelAg-induced IL-4 and IL-5 responses
were detected in spleen and MLN cell cultures from either WT or
IL-10
/
mice (data not shown).
|
and TNF-
secretion by cells from
infected IL-10
/
mice were totally abrogated by T-cell
depletion, demonstrating a requirement for T cells in the production of
these cytokines (Fig. 7).
|
Anti-IFN-
or anti-IL-12 treatment inhibits H. hepaticus-induced IBD in IL-10-deficient mice.
To examine
the role of IFN-
and IL-12 in the development of large bowel lesions
following H. hepaticus infection of SPF-reared IL-10
/
mice, animals were treated with neutralizing MAb
to either cytokine or with a control MAb every 3 to 4 days starting 1 day prior to bacterial inoculation. After 4 weeks, markedly reduced
gross and microscopic lesions were evident in the ceca and colons of
mice treated with anti-IFN-
or anti-IL-12 compared to animals
receiving control MAb (Fig. 8).
Thus, while the latter animals showed inflammatory lesions and hyperplasia indistinguishable from that observed in mice
receiving no MAb, anti-cytokine MAb-treated groups displayed reduced
large bowel lesions with fewer inflammatory cells in the lamina propria
and diminished hyperplasia (Fig. 8D to F). When SHelAg-induced cytokine
responses were analyzed, MLN from anti-IL-12-treated mice secreted
reduced amounts of IFN-
compared to animals receiving control MAb
(1.9 ± 0.9 ng/ml versus 7.3 ± 1.3 ng/ml). In contrast, levels of SHelAg-induced IFN-
in MLN cultures from mice treated with
anti-IFN-
were comparable to or up to sixfold higher than those of
control MAb-treated mice.
|
| |
DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
A number of animal models of spontaneous intestinal inflammation have now been described, and it is striking that nearly all of these involve mice with dysregulated immunological functions (6, 15, 19, 28, 29, 33). A second major feature of the disease observed in many of these models is that mice maintained in SPF or germfree conditions develop only minimal inflammatory changes (19, 29). The role of both pathogenic components is clearly evidenced in the enterocolitis developed by IL-10-deficient mice in that they lack a critical immunoregulatory cytokine and spontaneously develop a generalized enterocolitis starting around 3 weeks of age, a disease which is delayed in onset and less severe when the animals are reared in an SPF environment (2, 14).
In the present study, we have formally demonstrated that experimental infection of SPF-reared IL-10-deficient mice with a single pathogen can partially reconstitute the pathological response in the intestinal tract. The organism used was the gram-negative bacterium H. hepaticus (9, 35, 37), a common gut pathogen in mouse colonies (32). The choice of this microbe was based on previous evidence suggesting its involvement in the development of intestinal inflammation in certain naturally infected immunodeficient animals (36). In addition, H. hepaticus has been shown to induce enterocolitis when administered to germfree outbred Swiss Webster mice as well as to scid mice reconstituted with defined CD4+ effector T-cell populations (3, 10). However, it is important to note that in most immunocompetent mouse strains, including those with the C57BL background studied here, H. hepaticus fails to induce significant disease (35-37).
IL-10
/
mice raised under conventional conditions suffer
from chronic enterocolitis affecting the duodenum, adjoining jejunum, and colon (14). In contrast, SPF-reared
IL-10
/
mice develop only a local inflammation limited
to the proximal colon (14). However, with time, the disease
becomes more severe also in the SPF IL-10
/
mice,
affecting the cecum, colon, and rectum as well as the duodenum (2). Importantly, the genetic background appears to affect the development of enterocolitis in these SPF-reared mice. Thus, IL-10-deficient animals on a C57BL/6 background display minimal disease
compared to 129/SvEv or BALB/c IL-10
/
mice
(2). The above observations suggest that the severe
spontaneous enterocolitis originally described for conventionally
reared, partially backcrossed 129/Ola IL-10
/
mice may
have been due to their mixed genetic background as well as the
intestinal flora to which the mice were exposed. For the experiments
performed here, we used SPF-reared IL-10-deficient mice backcrossed to
C57BL/10 for 7 to 10 generations, and, consistent with the findings of
Berg et al. (2), found minimal lesions (in the form of minor
lymphocytic infiltration) during the 5- to 6-month period of
examination. As all of the animals were negative for H. hepaticus as well as other Helicobacter species upon
cecal culture, it is unlikely that this background pathology resulted from contaminating infections with such bacteria.
In striking contrast, SPF-reared IL-10
/
mice
experimentally infected with H. hepaticus developed severe
large bowel lesions as early as 2 weeks after bacterial inoculation.
These lesions occurred primarily in the cecum, the ascending colon, and
to some extent the rectum, increasing in severity with time.
Nevertheless, the pathology induced by H. hepaticus in
IL-10
/
mice clearly differs from that originally
described for conventional, partially backcrossed IL-10-deficient
animals in that the small intestine appears to be largely unaffected
and large bowel lesions are more severe in the natural disease. The
reason for this difference is not clear. One possibility is that other
microbial components in the intestinal flora of the conventionally
reared animals triggered the small intestinal lesions observed, and
H. hepaticus is not pathogenic in that site. Alternatively,
as alluded to above, the contaminating 129/Ola genes present in the
originally characterized IL-10
/
mice may have
predisposed these animals to inflammation of the small intestine.
One possible explanation for the increased severity of disease in
H. hepaticus-infected IL-10
/
mice is that
these animals are more susceptible to infection with the bacteria
and/or fail to control bacterial growth. This interpretation of the
data seems unlikely based on several considerations. First, bacteria
were observed in crypts and cecal contents of both WT and
IL-10
/
mice at all time points analyzed (up to 4 months
postinfection). Second, comparable levels of H. hepaticus-reactive Ab were found in sera of WT and IL-10-deficient
animals at 4 months postinfection, arguing for similar levels of
infection. Finally, previously published studies have failed to reveal
a direct correlation between bacterial load and disease severity in
murine H. felis infections (17, 18). Although
accurate quantitation of H. hepaticus in the intestine is
difficult (the bacteria tend to spread out and do not form colonies
easily), we are currently in the process of estimating bacterial loads
in cecal contents from infected WT and IL-10
/
mice.
The enhanced intestinal disease observed in H. hepaticus-infected IL-10-deficient mice was found to correlate
with augmented T-cell proliferative and altered cytokine responses to a
soluble extract of the bacteria (SHelAg), whereas Ab responses to the same preparation were unaltered. In the case of lymphocyte
proliferation, the increase in response was evident in MLN but not
spleen cell populations and was observed only in mice infected for
longer than 3 weeks. More pronounced differences between the two
strains of mice were observed for cytokine responses. Thus, H. hepaticus-infected IL-10
/
mice mounted a strong
type 1 response as measured by IFN-
, TNF-
, and NO production
after in vitro stimulation of spleen and MLN cells with SHelAg, whereas
IL-10 was the dominant cytokine secreted by cells from infected WT
mice. Considering the high levels of H. hepaticus-reactive
Ab of all isotypes in both WT and IL-10
/
mice, it was
somewhat surprising to find minimal or no detectable IL-4 and IL-5
responses to SHelAg from these mice. However, our results are in
agreement with the report by Mohammadi et al., who found that neither
spleen cells nor gastric lamina propria lymphocytes from H. felis-infected mice produced IL-4 or IL-5 in response to bacterial
Ag (17).
The cytokine pattern observed in the IL-10
/
mice
undergoing H. hepaticus-induced colitis is very similar to
that reported to be associated with the late-arising spontaneous
enterocolitis occurring in SPF-reared, partially backcrossed
IL-10-deficient mice (2), the intestinal inflammation
induced by transferred CD45RBhigh CD4+ T cells
into scid recipients (26), and the gastric
inflammation induced by H. felis infection in C57BL/6 mice
(17), suggesting that a common type 1 cytokine-dependent
disease mechanism may be involved. Previous studies on this mechanism
in the above as well as other models involving chemically induced
colitis (21) have suggested that it is dependent on both
IL-12 and IFN-
(2, 24, 26, 27). Consistent with the
latter observations, IL-10
/
animals treated with
anti-IL-12 or anti-IFN-
MAb during the course of H. hepaticus infection displayed reduced intestinal inflammation
(Fig. 8). As SHelAg-induced IFN-
secretion measured in vitro was
reduced in anti-IL-12-treated mice but unaltered or elevated in
anti-IFN-
-treated mice, the mechanisms by which these two reagents
diminished disease appear to be distinct. While anti-IL-12 treatment is
likely to function by inhibiting the generation of Th1-type cells,
neutralization of IFN-
probably acts directly on the effector arm of
the immune response, which triggers tissue inflammation. An important
issue which we are currently examining is whether treatment with these
anti-cytokine MAbs will reduce previously established H. hepaticus-induced intestinal inflammation. In the case of the late
spontaneous enterocolitis developed by partially backcrossed SPF-reared
IL-10
/
mice, anti-IFN-
treatment fails to affect
established disease (27), whereas in the chronic
inflammation triggered by contact sensitization with the hapten
trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid, administration of anti-IL-12 MAb has
been shown to abrogate previously induced colitis (21).
Studies using several IBD animal models have demonstrated an important
role for Th1-like CD4+ cells in mediating disease (7,
25, 27). In the case of the IL-10
/
mouse model,
transfer of CD4+ CD8
or CD4+
CD8
+ colonic T cells from IL-10-deficient mice
developing spontaneous enterocolitis, but not WT mice, results in the
induction of intestinal inflammatory disease in RAG-2
/
recipients (7). In the experiments reported here,
SHelAg-induced production by MLN cells of IFN-
and TNF-
, the two
cytokines associated with disease pathogenesis, was shown to be both
T-cell dependent (Fig. 7) and inhibitable by anti-CD4 MAb (not shown), suggesting that this lymphocyte subset will also be critical for the
generation of H. hepaticus-induced colitis. A key issue
which we hope to address in future experiments is whether the T cells which mediate inflammatory disease in the H. hepaticus-infected IL-10
/
mice are directed
against specific bacterial components or host self Ag. This general
question in IBD pathogenesis can be directly addressed in our model as
a defined microbial agent is used for eliciting disease.
An important finding in the present study is the observation that
H. hepaticus infection induces an IL-10-dominated cytokine response in WT animals not developing disease. Previous studies have
indicated that repeated administration of rIL-10 into SPF-reared, partially backcrossed IL-10-deficient mice can transiently cure the
spontaneous enterocolitis developing in these mice (27). Therefore it is probable that the bacterium-induced IL-10 in H. hepaticus-infected WT mice plays a critical role in protecting the
animals against disease. The results of the in vitro stimulation experiments performed here (Fig. 7) suggest that T cells are the major
source of the cytokine following bacterial Ag stimulation. As H. hepaticus did not induce a typical Th1 or Th2 response in the
infected WT animals, it is tempting to speculate that the T cells
involved may belong to the recently described IL-10- and transforming
growth factor
(TGF-
)-producing regulatory CD4+
subset shown to protect scid mice against the intestinal
inflammation induced by transferred CD45RBhigh lymphocytes
(13). In this regard, it is interesting that the mechanism
by which CD45RBlow CD4+ T cells transfer
protection to IBD in scid mice cotransferred with
CD45RBhigh cells is dependent on TGF-
(23).
Thus, it is possible that the key cytokine which protects WT mice
against H. hepaticus-induced damage is not IL-10 itself but
rather TGF-
produced by an IL-10-dependent regulatory T-cell subset.
In future experiments, we plan to define the IL-10-producing cell
population in H. hepaticus-infected WT mice, study its mode
of action, and identify the bacterial components which serve as its
stimulus. The information gained from such studies may lead to
strategies for treatment of IBD based on the induction of
IL-10-producing regulatory T cells directed against specific Ag shared
by those agents in gut flora associated with disease induction.
| |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
We are grateful for the help of Dee Green, Gayle Krietz, Roberta Smith, and Barbara Kasprzak with mouse necropsy and Jane Battles and Kris Pike for PCR analysis. We also thank Warren Strober, Ivan Fuss, Brian Kelsall, and Tim Mosmann for their thoughtful advice and criticism during the course of this project. Lastly, we thank Warren Strober, Brian Kelsall, George Yap, and Marco Schito for critical reading of the manuscript.
This work was supported in part with federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under contract NO1-CO-56000.
| |
FOOTNOTES |
|---|
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Immunobiology Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Building 4, Room 126, 4 Center Dr. MSC 0425, Bethesda, MD 20892-0425. Phone: (301) 496-8218. Fax: (301) 402-0890. E-mail: MKULLBERG{at}atlas.niaid.nih.gov.
Editor: J. R. McGhee
| |
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