title: CD4+ T-lymphocytes are not required for murine resistance to the human filarial parasite, Brugia malayi.
abstract: Immunocompetent mice are nonpermissive for the development and maturation of the human filarial parasite, Brugia malayi. We and others have shown that the absence of T-lymphocytes, alone or in combination with B-lymphocytes, renders mice permissive to infection. In a previous study, we showed that mice lacking CD8+ T-lymphocytes are also completely nonpermissive for B. malayi, indicating that CD8+ T-lymphocytes are not an obligate requirement for resistance. In the present study, we have examined the role of CD4+ T-lymphocytes in resistance to filarial infection using two experimental systems. In the first, we used an anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody to deplete CD4+ T-cells in vivo in immunocompetent BALB/c mice. In the second system, we used mutant mice in which the gene encoding the CD4 antigen had been disrupted by homologous recombination, resulting in a lack of CD4+ T-cells. Challenge of either the anti-CD4 antibody depleted BALB/c mice or CD4 knockout mice with B. malayi infective-stage larvae demonstrated that mice lacking CD4+ T-lymphocytes were resistant to infection. These data indicate that CD4+ T-cells are not an obligate requirement for murine resistance to B. malayi.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington 06030.
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Rajan
authors.forename: F K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Killeen
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Shultz
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Yates
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bailis
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Littman
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Greiner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D017178:Brugia malayi / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005368:Filariasis / Q000276:immunology*; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016513:Mice, SCID; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes