Antigen-Specific CD4⁺ T Cell-Derived Gamma Interferon Is Both Necessary and Sufficient for Clearing Chlamydia from the Small Intestine but Not the Large Intestine.

ABSTRACT: The genital tract pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis is frequently detected in the gastrointestinal tract, but the host immunity that regulates chlamydial colonization in the gut remains unclear. In a Chlamydia muridarum-C57 mouse model, chlamydial organisms are cleared from the genital tract in ∼4 weeks, but the genital organisms can spread to the gastrointestinal tract. We found that the gastrointestinal chlamydial organisms were cleared from the small intestine by day 28, paralleling their infection course in the genital tract, but persisted in the large intestine for long periods. Mice deficient in α/β T cells or CD4⁺ T cells but not CD8⁺ T cells showed chlamydial persistence in the small intestine, indicating a critical role for CD4⁺ T cells

SUBMITTER: Lin H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6529659 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature