Intestinal infection of BALB/c mice with Yersinia enterocolitica O9 causes major modifications in phenotype and functions of spleen cells

• Published in: Microbiology (Society for General Microbiology) 2001-11, Vol.147 (11), p.3165-3169
• Main Authors: Ruiz-Bravo, Alfonso, Moreno, Encarnacion, Jimenez-Valera, Maria
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies, Bacterial - biosynthesis; Bacterial diseases; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; CD11b antigen; CD3 antigen; CD4 antigen; Cytokines - biosynthesis; Disease Models, Animal; Experimental bacterial diseases and models; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Immunity, Innate; Immunophenotyping; Infectious diseases; Interferon-gamma - metabolism; Interleukin-4 - metabolism; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeria monocytogenes - immunology; Listeriosis - immunology; Lymphocyte Activation; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Microbiology; Pathogenicity, virulence, toxins, bacteriocins, pyrogens, host-bacteria relations, miscellaneous strains; Phagocytosis; Phenotype; reactive nitrogen species; Spleen - immunology; Splenomegaly - microbiology; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Yersinia enterocolitica; Yersinia enterocolitica - immunology; Yersinia Infections - immunology
• ISSN: 1350-0872; 1465-2080
• DOI: 10.1099/00221287-147-11-3165

Departamento de Microbiologia, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain 1 Author for correspondence: Alfonso Ruiz-Bravo. Fax: [phone]. e-mail: aruizbr{at}platon.ugr.es Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O9 may cause a persistent intestinal infection with few or no symptoms in humans and in BALB/c mice. The present study demonstrated profound alterations in the immune status of BALB/c mice infected with Y. enterocolitica O9. Infected mice developed splenomegaly and phenotypic analysis of spleen cells revealed increases in CD3 + total T cells, CD4 + helper T cells, CD8 + cytotoxic T cells and CD11b + phagocytic cells. Spleen cells from infected mice exhibited impaired responses to mitogens and suppressed the proliferation of normal splenocytes in response to mitogens. Suppression of responses to concanavalin A and heat-killed yersiniae was associated with increased production of gamma interferon and reactive nitrogen intermediates. Y. enterocolitica -infected mice resisted challenge with a lethal dose of the intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes . These findings suggest that infection of mice with Y. enterocolitica O9 induces gamma-interferon-secreting cells that promote macrophage activation, mediating resistance to infection with L. monocytogenes , and macrophage production of reactive nitrogen intermediates, which results in in vitro inhibition of lymphocyte response to mitogens. Keywords: Yersinia enterocolitica , gamma interferon, lymphocytes, macrophage activation Abbreviations: Con A, concanavalin A; HKY, heat-killed yersiniae; IFN- , gamma interferon