title: Cryptosporidium parvum infection in gene-targeted B cell-deficient mice.
abstract: The importance of B cells in host resistance to, and recovery from, Cryptosporidium parvum infection was examined in gene-targeted B cell-deficient (muMT-/-) mice. Neonatal muMT-/- mice infected with C. parvum at 5 days of age completely cleared the infection by day 20 PI. The kinetics of infection and clearance were similar to those seen with age-matched C57BL/6 control mice. Furthermore, B cells were not required to clear existing C. parvum infection in adult mice. Reconstitution of persistently infected Rag-1-/- adult mice with spleen cells from muMT-/- donor mice resulted in significant reduction of infection, as in the results seen with spleen cells from C57BL6 donors. These findings indicate clearly that B cells are not essential for host resistance to, and recovery from, C. parvum infection in mice.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biological Sciences, National Research Council, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0R6. wangxue.chen@nrc.ca
authors.forename: Wangxue
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Harp
authors.forename: Allen G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Harmsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000276:immunology*; D016785:Cryptosporidium parvum / Q000276:immunology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D016867:Immunocompromised Host / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL