Upregulation of CD4+ NKT cells is important for allograft survival in staphylococcal-enterotoxin-B-treated rats after high-risk corneal transplantation.
OBJECTIVE
To study the role of CD4+ natural killer T (NKT) cells in staphylococcal-enterotoxin-B (SEB)-treated rats after high-risk corneal transplantation.


METHODS
Fisher 344 donor corneas were transplanted into Lewis recipients. Corneal neovascularization was induced by sutures. All the recipients were randomly divided into 3 groups. The SEB group was intraperitoneally injected with SEB at a concentration of 75 microg/kg. The drug combination group received SEB and dexamethasone at a concentration of 5 mg/ml. The control group received saline buffer. All transplants were evaluated for 30 days. Ten days after transplantation, 3 recipients in each group were sacrificed for immunological study.


RESULTS
The survival time of the allografts in the SEB group was 12.50 +/- 1.41 days, much longer than in the control group (7.30 +/- 0.67 days) and the drug combination group (10.38 +/- 3.07 days). The lymphocyte proliferation ability was the weakest and the percentage of CD4+ NKT cells in both the spleen and the mandibular lymph nodes was the highest in the SEB group, while the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ cells was the lowest in the drug combination group. IL-2 in the aqueous humor and the serum was lower while IL-10 was higher in the SEB group than in the other 2 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
SEB prolongs allograft survival in rat high-risk corneal transplantation. This effect seems to be mediated by the upregulation of CD4+ NKT cells.
Jie
Ying
Y
Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Capital University of Medical Science, Beijing, PR China.
Pan
Zhiqiang
Z
Xu
Liang
L
Chen
Yu
Y
Zhang
Wenhua
W
Wu
Yuying
Y
Peng
Hong
H
D000818:Animals; D001082:Aqueous Humor / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D016039:Corneal Transplantation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000502:physiology*; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000378:metabolism; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D012307:Risk Factors; D018089:Superantigens; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015854:Up-Regulation
D015415:Biomarkers; D015704:CD4 Antigens; D004768:Enterotoxins; D007376:Interleukin-2; D018089:Superantigens; D016753:Interleukin-10; C031818:enterotoxin B, staphylococcal