title: Intestinal pathology during acute toxoplasmosis is IL-4 dependent and unrelated to parasite burden.
abstract: The role of interleukin-4 (IL-4) during the course of Toxoplasma gondii infection was studied using IL-4-/- mice and their wild-type (WT) counterparts on a C57BL/6 background. Following oral infection with T. gondii tissue cysts an exacerbative role for IL-4 was demonstrated and IL-4-/- mice were found to be more resistant to infection than WT mice as measured by significantly reduced mortality. Furthermore pathology in the small intestine was less severe in IL-4-/- mice although conversely liver pathology was greater than in wild-type mice. Significantly, plasma IL-12 and IFN-gamma levels, which peaked at days 6 and 8, respectively, were higher in IL-4-/- mice. The exacerbatory role of IL-4 in the intestine was found by competitive RT-PCR not to be associated with increased parasite burdens but was related to comparative expression of IL-10.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Strathclyde Institute for Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Nickdel
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brombacher
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000254:growth & development*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D015847:Interleukin-4