Modulation of the host immune response as a result of Chlamydia psittaci infection

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
After i.p. injection of mice with infectious, inactivated or envelope preparations of the elementary body of C. psittaci, lymphocyte transformation of spleen cells to the mitogens concanavalin A [Con A], phytohemagglutinin and lipopolysaccharide was significantly reduced 1 and 2 wk postinjection. Lymphocyte response returned to the control values by 4 wk. Similarly, transformation of cells by chlamydial antigen was not detected until 4 wk post-injection. Injection of the noninfectious intracellular reticulate body, in contrast, had little effect on transformation of cells to Con A. When control spleen cells were incubated with infectious or inactivated elementary bodies in vitro, response to all 3 mitogens was also reduced. The sooner the organisms were added after the addition of mitogen, the greater the reduction in transformation. Incubation with elementary body envelopes and reticulate bodies had no effect on lymphocyte transformation of the spleen cells to Con A. The relationship between the observed ability to reduce the response in the in vitro assay of lymphocyte transformation and the actual in vivo establishment of infection is discussed.