title: Role of the striatum in the humoral immune response to thymus-independent and thymus-dependent antigens in rats.
abstract: Since the role of striatal GABAergic medium-sized spiny (MSP) neurons in the modulation of the immune responses is largely unknown, we evaluated the humoral immune response in rats with bilateral lesion of the striatum caused by quinolinic acid, which destroys MSP neurons. Sham-operated rats and those with striatal lesions were immunized either with TNP-LPS, a T-independent antigen type 1, or one of several T-dependent antigens: ovoalbumin, bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, sheep red blood cells (SRBC) or outer membrane proteins (OMP) of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The specific levels of serum IgM and IgG, as well as intestinal IgA antibodies were determined either by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or a haemagglutination assay 5 or 7 days after immunization. Our results show that the lesion of striatal MSP neurons attenuated the primary antibody response to the T-independent antigen type 1 (TNP-LPS), but increased the antibody response to T-dependent antigens (proteins, SRBC and OMP), indicating that the striatal neurons modulate the humoral immune response in rats. The mechanisms involved are probably related to a reduction in both the number of B cells and the expression of caveolin-1 in the spleen, as well as an increase in the number of CD4(+) T cells and in corticosterone levels of the serum.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología, UBIPRO, FES-Iztacala, UNAM, Edo. de México, México, D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rivera-Aguilar
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Querejeta
authors.forename: Rosa Adriana
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Jarillo-Luna
authors.forename: Humberto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reyna-Garfias
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ponce-Franco
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milliar-Garcia
authors.forename: Alma Rosa
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Quiñones-Cárdenas
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pacheco-Yepez
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Campos-Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D051242:Caveolin 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology* / Q000293:injuries; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D051242:Caveolin 1; D016207:Cytokines; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; C048761:trinitrophenyl-lipopolysaccharide; D003345:Corticosterone