| First Author | Le Goff L | Year | 2000 |
| Journal | Infect Immun | Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 2513-7 |
| PubMed ID | 10768938 | Mgi Jnum | J:61696 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1355435 | Doi | 10.1128/iai.68.5.2513-2517.2000 |
| Citation | Le Goff L, et al. (2000) Interleukin-5 is essential for vaccine-mediated immunity but not innate resistance to a filarial parasite. Infect Immun 68(5):2513-7 |
| abstractText | The study of protective immune mechanisms effective against filarial nematodes has been hampered by the inability of these important human pathogens to infect laboratory mice. Recently, Litomosoides sigmodontis, a natural parasite of rats, has been developed as a valuable model for the study of filarial infection. BALB/c mice are fully susceptible to infection with L. sigmodontis third-stage larvae and develop patent infection. In contrast, mice on the C57BL background are resistant, and parasites undergo only a single molt and do not mature to adulthood. We used interleukin-5 (IL-5)-deficient mice on the C57BL/6 background to address the role of IL-5 and eosinophils in the innate resistance of C57BL/6 mice. We found no differences in parasite survival between IL-5-deficient and C57BL/6 mice. However, when these mice were used for the analysis of vaccine-mediated immunity, a critical role for IL-5 was elucidated. Mice genetically deficient in IL-5 were unable to generate a protective immune response when vaccinated with irradiated larvae, whereas C57BL/6 mice were fully protected from challenge infection. These studies help to clarify the highly controversial role of eosinophils in filarial infection. |
