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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 53(2), 1995, pp. 189-194
Copyright © 1995 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Responses of T and B Lymphocytes to a Paracoccidioides brasiliensis Cell Wall Extract in Healthy Sensitized and Nonsensitized Subjects

G. Benard, A. Durandy, C. M. Assis, M. A. Hong, N. M. Orii, M. N. Sato, M. J. S. Mendes-Gianini, C. S. Lacaz AND A. J. S. Duarte
Immunogenetics and Experimental Transplantation Laboratory, Laboratorio de Investigacao Medica 73, and Medical Mycology Laboratory, Laboratorio de Investigacao Medica 46, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Faculdade de Ciencias Farmaceuticas, Universidade do Estado de Sao Paulo, Araraquara, Brazil; INSERM Unit 132, Hopital Necker Enfants Malades, Paris, France

Antigen-specific cellular immunity in paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) has been poorly studied due to lack of standard in vitro lymphocyte proliferation assays. To standardize such an assay, we studied T and B cell responses to a Paracoccidioides brasiliensis cell wall extract (PbAg) in healthy subjects sensitized to either P. brasiliensis [Pb(+)Hc(-)] or to Histoplasma capsulatum [Hc(+)Pb(-)], and in nonsensitized persons. All subjects showed, as expected, a vigorous proliferative response to a control fungal antigen obtained from Candida albicans. Lymphocytes from Pb(+)Hc(-) donors, but not from Pb(-)Hc(-) donors, reacted to PbAg by proliferating in a dose-dependent manner with a maximum reaction after 6–9 days, suggesting a secondary specific immune response. Most activated cells were CD4+ lymphocytes. However, Hc(+)Pb(-) donors' cells reacted with PbAg. Cross-reactivity with H. capsulatum was not unexpected, since both fungi, but not C. albicans, share cell wall immunogenic compounds. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect human immunoglobulins (Ig) demonstrated that B cells from Pb(+)Hc(-) donors, but not from Pb(-)Hc(-) ones, reacted with PbAg by secreting high levels of IgG and IgM in 12-day culture supernatants. This secretion was possibly mediated by PbAg-activated CD4+ cells. We believe that analysis of T and B lymphocyte responses to PbAg will be useful in the investigation of the infection-associated immune impairment seen in some PCM patients.






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Copyright © 1995 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.