title: Interleukin-6-deficient mice are highly susceptible to Giardia lamblia infection but exhibit normal intestinal immunoglobulin A responses against the parasite.
abstract: In the present study, interleukin-6 (IL-6)-deficient mice were infected with Giardia lamblia clone GS/M-83-H7. Murine IL-6 deficiency did not affect the synthesis of parasite-specific intestinal immunoglobulin A. However, in contrast to wild-type mice, IL-6-deficient animals were not able to control the acute phase of parasite infection. Reverse transcription-PCR-based quantitation of cytokine mRNA levels in peripheral lymph node cells exhibited a short-term up-regulation of IL-4 expression in IL-6-deficient mice that seemed to be associated with failure in controlling the parasite population. This observation suggests a further elucidation of IL-4-dependent, Th2-type regulatory processes regarding their potential to influence the course of G. lamblia infection in the experimental murine host.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bienz
authors.forename: Wen Juan
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Welle
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gottstein
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016829:Giardia lamblia / Q000276:immunology*; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000276:immunology*; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D015850:Interleukin-6; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma