摘要：

This study investigated the peritoneal exudate cells (PECs) at the site of infection in experimental murine cysticercosis (Taenia crassiceps), using flow cytometry, and measured the cytokines produced by these cells through 50 days of infection; mice were necropsied every 10 days. The results showed an expansion of B220+CD5+, B220+CD5-, alphabetaTCR+CD4+ and CD8+ cells coinciding with a transient increase in interleukin (IL)-10 production. After the initial increase, the percentage of B220+CD5- andhelper T cells decreased, with a concomitant decrease in IL-10 production. CD8+T cells continued to increase throughout infection and gammadeltaTCR+ cells increased after 10 days of infection. PECs stimulated with larval antigens showed increased interferon (IFN)-gamma and IL-4 production, compared with those from uninfected mice, throughout infection. Because a Th2-type polarization has been shown for spleen cells from infected BALB/c mice, cytokine profiles of spleen cells and PECs in response to Concanavalin A (ConA) and larval antigens were compared. ConA and antigen-specific stimulation of spleen cells from 50-day-infected mice produced increased amounts of IL-10, but PECs showed decreased IL-10 production, suggesting that anatomically distinct lymphoid populations produce different cytokines and promote different types of responses. Both spleen cells and PECs produced less IFN-gamma in response to ConA and more in response to larval antigens. Unexpectedly, the levels of IL-4 and IFN-gamma in serum increased substantially (460-fold and 100-fold, respectively) late in infection. It is concluded that the systemic immune response of BALB/c mice during experimental cysticercosis is a mixed Th1/Th2-type response.

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