Constantin Carolyn M, Masopust David, Gourley Tania, Grayson Jason, Strickland Ora L, Ahmed Rafi, Bonney Elizabeth A
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
J Immunol. 2007 Oct 1;179(7):4383-9. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.179.7.4383.
Suppression of cell-mediated immunity has been proposed as a mechanism that promotes maternal tolerance of the fetus but also contributes to increased occurrence and severity of certain infections during pregnancy. Despite decades of research examining the effect of pregnancy on Ag-specific T cell responses, many questions remain. In particular, quantitative examination of memory CD8 T cell generation following infection during pregnancy remains largely unknown. To examine this issue, we evaluated the generation of protective immunity following infection during pregnancy with a nonpersistent strain of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) in mice. The CD8 T cell response to LCMV occurred normally in pregnant mice compared with the nonpregnant cohort with rapid viral clearance in all tissues tested except for the placenta. Despite significant infiltration of CD8 T cells to the maternal-fetal interface, virus persisted in the placenta until delivery. Live pups were not infected and generated normal primary immune responses when challenged as adults. Memory CD8 T cell development in mice that were pregnant during primary infection was normal with regards to the proliferative capacity, number of Ag-specific cells, cytokine production upon re-stimulation, and the ability to protect from re-infection. These data suggest that virus-specific adaptive memory is normally generated in mice during pregnancy.
细胞介导免疫的抑制被认为是一种促进母体对胎儿产生耐受性的机制，但也会导致孕期某些感染的发生率和严重程度增加。尽管数十年来一直在研究妊娠对抗原特异性T细胞反应的影响，但仍有许多问题尚待解决。特别是，孕期感染后记忆性CD8 T细胞生成的定量研究在很大程度上仍不清楚。为了研究这个问题，我们评估了小鼠在孕期感染非持续性淋巴细胞性脉络丛脑膜炎病毒（LCMV）后保护性免疫的生成情况。与未怀孕的同窝小鼠相比，怀孕小鼠对LCMV的CD8 T细胞反应正常，除胎盘外，所有测试组织中的病毒均能快速清除。尽管CD8 T细胞大量浸润到母胎界面，但病毒在胎盘中持续存在直至分娩。活产幼崽未被感染，成年后受到攻击时能产生正常的初次免疫反应。初次感染期间怀孕的小鼠，其记忆性CD8 T细胞在增殖能力、抗原特异性细胞数量、再次刺激时的细胞因子产生以及预防再次感染的能力方面发育正常。这些数据表明，孕期小鼠通常能产生病毒特异性适应性记忆。
