Lukehart S A, Baker-Zander S A, Sell S
J Immunol. 1980 Jan;124(1):454-60.
Lymphoid cells from spleens and lymph nodes of rabbits infected with T. pallidum respond by proliferation to concanavalin A (Con A) and T. pallidum antigens. Spleen cell responsiveness to treponemal antigens appears 6 days after infection, is 100 to 600 fold higher than the response of uninfected control rabbits, and is maintained throughout the 31-day observation period. Specifically responding cells in the inguinal and popliteal lymph nodes of infected animals are demonstrable on day 10, and the magnitude of the response increases throughout the observation period. Specific responsiveness to T. pallidum antigens in vitro is enhanced in purified T cell populations and is abolished by treatment with goat anti-rabbit thymocyte serum and complement. The response of spleen and lymph node cells to Con A is unaffected during syphilitic infection. These results are consistent with a role for T cell-mediated specific immunity to treponemal antigens early after infection and do not support a hypothesis of depressed cellular immunity during syphilitic infection.
感染梅毒螺旋体的兔脾脏和淋巴结中的淋巴细胞对刀豆球蛋白A（Con A）和梅毒螺旋体抗原会产生增殖反应。脾脏细胞对梅毒螺旋体抗原的反应在感染后6天出现，比未感染的对照兔的反应高100至600倍，并在整个31天的观察期内持续存在。感染动物腹股沟和腘窝淋巴结中的特异性反应细胞在第10天可检测到，并且反应强度在整个观察期内增加。在纯化的T细胞群体中，体外对梅毒螺旋体抗原的特异性反应增强，并用山羊抗兔胸腺细胞血清和补体处理后反应消失。在梅毒感染期间，脾脏和淋巴结细胞对Con A的反应不受影响。这些结果与感染后早期T细胞介导的对梅毒螺旋体抗原的特异性免疫作用一致，不支持梅毒感染期间细胞免疫抑制的假说。
