Abortive T follicular helper development is associated with a defective humoral response in Leishmania infantum-infected macaques.

ABSTRACT: Leishmania infantum causes a chronic infectious disease named visceral leishmaniasis (VL). We employed a non-human primate model to monitor immune parameters over time and gain new insights into the disease. Rhesus macaques were infected with L. infantum and the T helper and B cell immunological profiles characterized during acute and chronic phases of infection. Parasite detection in visceral compartments during the acute phase was associated with differentiation of effector memory CD4 T cells and increased levels of Th1 transcripts. At the chronic phase, parasites colonized novel lymphoid niches concomitant with increased expression of IL10. Despite the occurrence of hypergammaglobulinemia, the production of parasite-specific IgG was poor, being confined to the acute phase and positively

SUBMITTER: Rodrigues V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4005728 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature