Bordetella bronchiseptica dermonecrotizing toxin suppresses in vivo antibody responses in mice.
The effects of Bordetella bronchiseptica dermonecrotic toxin (DNT) on the in vivo antibody response of mice were investigated. Intravenous injection of DNT at doses of 0.5 and 2.0 ng resulted in a significant suppression of the antibody response both to sheep red blood cells and to Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide as measured by plaque-forming cell and hemagglutination assays. Spleen weights of mice given the same doses of DNT were significantly reduced, while the weights of thymuses and mesenteric lymph nodes were not. Numbers of Thy-1,2+ T lymphocytes, L3T4+ T lymphocytes, Lyt-2+ T lymphocytes and surface-immunoglobulin-positive lymphocytes decreased in spleens of the DNT-treated mice. Since the ratio of each lymphocyte population to the total number of splenic lymphocytes was not significantly different between the DNT-treated and non-treated mice, it is unlikely that DNT has a cytotoxic activity or a mitogen activity to some specific population of lymphocytes. Thus, we considered that the immunosuppression was attributable to a dysfunction of the spleen atrophied by the DNT.
Horiguchi
Y
Y
Research Center for Veterinary Science, Kitasato Institute, Kashiwa, Japan.
Matsuda
H
H
Koyama
H
H
Nakai
T
T
Kume
K
K
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D016950:Bordetella bronchiseptica; D005260:Female; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006462:Hemolytic Plaque Technique; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009929:Organ Size; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology*; D011503:Transglutaminases; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella; C060969:dermonecrotic toxin, Bordetella; D011503:Transglutaminases