title: Distribution of lymphocyte subsets in rat milk from normal and Trichinella spiralis-infected rats.
abstract: We have shown that T. spiralis-specific T lymphocytes can mediate maternal-to-neonatal immunity during lactation. This study addresses the change of lymphocyte populations in rat milk during normal and disease conditions. Two color flow cytometric analysis was performed for milk lymphocytes. T cells (OX19+) made up 45% of rat milk lymphocyte population. T helper cells (Th) composed 35% of total T cells while T cytotoxic/suppressor (Tcs) cells constituted 34%, giving a Th/Tcs ratio of 1.03. The corresponding ratio Th/Tcs in peripheral blood was 2.8. Approximately 21% of OX8+ cells in rat milk were OX19- natural killer (NK) cells. When using the monoclonal antibody 3.2.3 (NKR-P1), 43% of lymphocytes in control rat milk and 14% of blood lymphocytes were NK cells. This indicates a selective passage of these cells into milk. In T. spiralis-immunized rats, the percentage of total T cells was slightly decreased; however, Th and Tcs cells were consistent as compared to control milk. The percentage of NK cells (OX8+OX19-) in milk from T. spiralis-immunized rats was significantly higher than that from control milk (65% vs. 21%, respectively, P less than 0.01). This result was confirmed using the monoclonal antibody 3.2.3 which showed that milk from immunized rats contained 63% NK cells compared to 43% in normal milk (P less than 0.01). This study suggests that NK cells are selectively passaged into rat milk and T. spiralis infection induces an increase of NK cells in milk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport 71130.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Na
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hiserodt
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Seelig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets; D008892:Milk / Q000276:immunology*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D017160:Trichinella spiralis; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology