title: [Intragastric administration of interferon-α-transformed Bifidobacterium promotes lymphocyte proliferation and maturation in mice].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of intragastric administration of human interferon-α (hIFN-α)-transformed Bifidobacterium on immune functions of mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  The E.coli-Bifidobacterium shuttle expression vector containing hIFN-α gene was constructed and transformed into Bifidobacterium. The hIFN-α-transformed Bifidobacterium suspension (1010 /ml) was prepared after induction with 0.2% L-arabinose for hIFN-α expression and administered intragastrically in male Balb/C mice at the dose of 0.1 ml every other day for 2 weeks, with the mice receiving empty vector-transformed Bifidobacteria as the negative control and those having an equal volume of saline as the blank control. The percentages of mononuclear cell subsets in the thymus, spleen and blood were detected in the mice by flow cytometry, and the serum levels of IL-4, IL-12, IFN-γ and TNF-α were assayed using mouse cytokine FlowCytomix Kit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percentages of CD3⁺CD8⁺ and CD4⁺CD8⁺ cells in the thymus, CD3⁺CD4⁺, CD3⁺CD8⁺ and CD4⁺CD8⁺ cells in the spleen, and CD3⁺CD8⁺ cells in the blood all increased significantly in IFN group as compared with those in the negative and blank control groups (P<0.01 or 0.05). The serum level of IFN-γ also increased significantly (P<0.05) while IL-4 level remained unchanged in IFN group compared with those in the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intragastric administration of hIFN-α-transformed Bifidobacterium promotes lymphocyte proliferation and maturation and increases the serum levels of Th1 cytokines in mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.E-mail: zengws@smu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Weisen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Shuxian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Congwen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Yuanjian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wenying
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Mingyue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001644:Bifidobacterium; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D018664:Interleukin-12; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma