CD8+ alphabeta T cells can mediate late airway responses and airway eosinophilia in rats.

BACKGROUND

The function of CD8+ T-cell subsets in mediating late allergic responses is incompletely understood.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to test the hypothesis that CD8+ alphabeta T cells are proinflammatory in the airways in vivo by using a well-characterized animal model and the technique of adoptive transfer.

METHODS

Brown Norway rats were administered CD8 + alphabeta T cells (10 6 ) intraperitoneally purified from lymph node cells of either naive or ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized rats and were challenged with aerosolized OVA 2 days later. Control rats were sensitized to 100 mug of OVA in Al(OH) 3 subcutaneously or sham sensitized to saline and were OVA challenged 2 weeks later.

RESULTS

The OVA-sensitized and OVA-challenged group and the recipients of OVA-primed CD8+ alphabeta T cells had significant late airway responses calculated from lung resistance measured for an 8-hour period after challenge compared with the naive CD8 + alphabeta T cell-transferred group and the sham-sensitized control group. The number of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid increased in the OVA-sensitized group and the OVA-primed CD8+ alphabeta T-cell recipients compared with numbers in the naive CD8+ alphabeta T-cell recipients and the sham-sensitized control group. IL-4 and IL-5 cytokine mRNA expression in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid increased in the OVA-sensitized group and the OVA-primed CD8+ alphabeta T-cell recipients compared with that in the sham-sensitized group.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that antigen-primed CD8 + alphabeta T cells might have a proinflammatory role in allergen-driven airway responses in the rat.