Antigenic dietary protein guides maturation of the host immune system promoting resistance to Leishmania major infection in C57BL/6 mice.
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Date
2010
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Abstract
The immature immune system requires constant stimulation by foreign
antigens during the early stages of life to develop properly and to create
efficient immune responses against later infections. We have previously
shown that intake of antigenic dietary protein is critical for inducing maturation
of the immune system as well as for the development of T helper
type 1 (Th1) immunity. In this study, we show that administration of an
amino acid (aa)-based diet during the development of the immune system
subsequently resulted in inefficient control of Leishmania major infection
in adult C57BL/6 mice. Compared with mice fed a control protein-containing
diet, adult aa-fed mice showed a decreased interferon (IFN)-c
response to parasite antigens and insufficient production of nitric oxide
(NO), which is crucial to parasite death. However, no deviation towards
Th2-specific immunity to L. major was observed. Phenotypic analysis of
antigen-presenting cells (APCs) from aa-fed mice revealed deficient levels
of the costimulatory molecules CD40 and CD80, and low levels of interleukin
(IL)-12 produced by peritoneal macrophages, revealing an early
stage of maturation of these cells. APCs isolated from aa-fed mice were
unable to stimulate a Th1 response in vitro. Both phenotypic features of
T cells from aa-fed mice and their ability to produce a Th1 response in
the presence of mature APCs were unaffected when compared with T cells
from control mice. The results presented here support the notion that
regulation of Th1 immunity to infection includes environmental factors
such as dietary proteins, which provide a natural source of stimulation
that contributes to the process of maturation of APCs.
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Keywords
Antigen-presenting cells, Diet, Immunological maturation, Leishmania
Citation
AMARAL, J. F. do et al. Antigenic dietary protein guides maturation of the host immune system promoting resistance to Leishmania major infection in C57BL/6 mice. Immunology, Oxford, v. 129, p. 455-464, 2010. Disponível em: <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2567.2009.03198.x/epdf>. Acesso em: 21 mar. 2017.