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Infection and Immunity, October 2001, p. 6165-6171, Vol. 69, No. 10
Department of Medical Microbiology and
Immunology, University of California School of
Medicine,1 and Department of Pathology,
Microbiology and Immunology, University of California School of
Veterinary Medicine,2 Davis, California
95616
Received 6 April 2001/Returned for modification 24 May
2001/Accepted 7 July 2001
Previous studies have demonstrated that
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.10.6165-6171.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Increase of

T Lymphocytes in Murine Lungs
Occurs during Recovery from Pulmonary Infection by Nocardia
asteroides

T lymphocytes are
important for host resistance to pulmonary infection of the murine lung
by log-phase cells of Nocardia asteroides. To study the
role of 
T cells in nocardial interactions in the murine lung,
C57BL/6J wild type and C57BL/6J-Tcrd (
T-cell knockout mice) were
infected intranasally with log-phase cells of N. asteroides
GUH-2. At 3, 5, and 7 days after infection, the 
T cells were
quantified by multiparameter flow cytometry. At the same time, Gram and
hematoxylin-eosin stains of paraffin sections were performed to monitor
the host responses. The data showed that 
T lymphocytes increased
significantly within the lungs after intranasal infection, and the peak
of this cellular increase occurred at 5 days. Furthermore, at this
time, greater than 50% of the CD3 T-cell receptor (TCR)-positive
(CD3+) cells were 
TCR positive. Histological
examination clearly showed divergent inflammatory responses in the
lungs of wild-type mice compared to 
T-cell knockout mice. The
C57BL/6J-Tcrd mice were less capable of clearing the organism, and the
polymorphonuclear leukocyte response lasted longer than in wild-type
C57BL/6J mice. These results showed that 
T cells were actively
involved in modulating the innate host responses to murine pulmonary
infection by N. asteroides.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California School of
Medicine, Davis, CA 95616. Phone: (530) 752-9663. Fax: (530) 752- 8692. E-mail: blbeaman{at}ucdavis.edu.
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