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Immunity to vaginal HSV‐2 infection in immunoglobulin A knockout mice
Author(s) -
Margaret B. Parr,
Gregory R. Harriman,
Earl L. Parr
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.297
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1365-2567
pISSN - 0019-2805
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2567.1998.00587.x
Subject(s) - immune system , antibody , immunity , immunology , biology , immunoglobulin a , herpes simplex virus , immunoglobulin g , virus , humoral immunity , virology
An immunoglobulin A (IgA) knockout (KO) mouse was used to study the role of IgA in protective immunity against vaginal infection with herpes simplex virus‐type 2 (HSV‐2). Intact and KO mice were immunized intravaginally (IVAG) with attenuated HSV‐2, challenged IVAG with wild‐type virus 6 weeks later and evaluated for vaginal infection and neurological disease. Non‐immunized/challenged intact and KO mice showed vaginal infection and succumbed to neurological disease, while immunized/challenged mice exhibited reduced or no vaginal infection and no neurological disease. Log 2·5 enzyme‐linked immunoassay (ELISA) titres of viral IgA, immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) in vaginal secretions collected from intact immune mice before challenge were 0·6±0·3, 6·4±0·32 and 0·0, while those in KO immune mice were 0·0, 6·7±0·19 and 3·0±0·29, respectively. Twenty‐four hours after challenge, the percentage of vaginal epithelium that was infected in non‐immune intact and KO mice was 2·0±0·6 and 2·4±0·6, which was reduced to 0·2±0·1 and 0·1±0·06 in immune intact and KO mice, respectively. No shed virus protein was detected in vaginal secretions 3 days after challenge in any immune mouse, whereas titres were 1400 and 1700 in the two groups of non‐immune mice. Thus, immune protection against vaginal HSV‐2 infection was similar in both KO and intact mice, indicating that this mucosal immunity does not depend mainly on IgA.