CD8+ T cells are associated with severe gastritis in Helicobacter pylori-infected mice in the absence of CD4+ T cells.
Helicobacter pylori infection results in the development of chronic gastritis, and CD4+ T cells are a major component of the gastric cellular infiltrate. To examine whether CD4+ T cells are important in initiating and maintaining H. pylori-induced gastritis, mice deficient in CD4+ T cells (B6.BM1.GK 1.5 mice [GK 1.5 mice]) were infected with H. pylori. We found that as in normal mice, H. pylori-specific antibodies, mostly of the immunoglobulin M isotype, developed in GK 1.5 mice but were unable to cure H. pylori infection. Further, while the stomachs of H. pylori-infected GK 1.5 mice were more heavily infiltrated with CD8+ T cells and B cells, mice deficient in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells developed mild inflammation comparable to the level observed for C57BL/6 mice. These observations suggest that CD4+ T cells may play an important role in regulating or suppressing gastric CD8+ T cells which, in the absence of CD4+ T cells, may mediate more-severe disease. These studies have revealed a potentially important role for CD8+ T cells in the gastric disease resulting from H. pylori infection.
Tan
Mai Ping
MP
Department of Microbiology and Immunology and The Australian Bacterial Pathogenesis Program, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
Pedersen
John
J
Zhan
Yifan
Y
Lew
Andrew M
AM
Pearse
Martin J
MJ
Wijburg
Odilia L C
OL
Strugnell
Richard A
RA
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D005756:Gastritis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007075:Immunoglobulin M