title: Quantification of antigen-specific antibody-secreting cells in the small intestine and other lymphoid organs of mice after oral booster immunization.
abstract: The intestinal immune response of mice against ovalbumin (OVA) was quantified by isolating lymphoid cells from the small intestine (SI) and testing them for antigen-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) secretion. The isolation procedure for functionally active lymphoid cells from the SI, originally developed to quantify the number of 'background' Ig-secreting cells in the SI, proved to be a useful method for evaluating antigen-specific intestinal immune responses quantitatively. The method was able to detect antigen-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASC) in the SI even when these cells occurred at a minimum frequency of only 0.006%. When mice were primed intraperitoneally (i.p.) with polymerized OVA and given an oral OVA booster immunization, OVA-specific ASC appeared in the SI from Day 3 after booster. After i.p. priming and an i.p. booster these cells could not be detected in the SI. The OVA-specific IgA-ASC responses in various organs after oral booster immunization were compared. From Day 5 after booster, when the response peaked, most OVA-specific IgA-ASC occurred in the SI. This suggested that these cells are mainly responsible for the OVA-specific antibodies demonstrated by ELISA in intestinal secretions from Day 6 after oral booster immunization. It is concluded that the quantitative method used in this study detects antigen-specific ASC in the SI with great sensitivity and could be used to evaluate immunization regimes aimed at inducing intestinal mucosal immune responses.
authors: Department of Immunology, Central Veterinary Institute, The Netherlands.
authors: P J
authors: PJ
authors: Van der Heijden
authors: A T
authors: AT
authors: Bianchi
authors: B A
authors: BA
authors: Bokhout
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Dol
authors: J W
authors: JW
authors: Scholten
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Stok
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000921:Antibody-Producing Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D002452:Cell Count; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory / Q000276:immunology; D007419:Intestinal Secretions / Q000276:immunology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000276:immunology*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology; D010581:Peyer's Patches / Q000276:immunology; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory; D010047:Ovalbumin