Antibody and cytokine responses in a mouse pulmonary model of Shigella flexneri serotype 2a infection

A murine pulmonary model was used to study the mucosal immune response to Shigella flexneri serotype 2a infection. Inoculation of BALB/cJ mice with shigellae via the intranasal route resulted in bacterial invasion of bronchial and alveolar epithelia with concomitant development of acute suppurative bronchiolitis and subsequent development of lethal pneumonia. The pathology of pulmonary lesions resembled the colitis that characterizes shigellosis in humans and primates. Significant protection against a lethal dose of S. flexneri 2a was observed in mice previously infected with two sublethal doses of the homologous strain. Immunity against lethal challenge was associated with decreased bacterial invasion of the mucosal epithelium. Over the course of two sublethal challenges, which constituted primary and secondary immunizations, mice developed pulmonary and serum immunoglobulin G and A antibody recognizing both lipopolysaccharide and invasion plasmid antigens IpaB and IpaC. Immune mice and naive control mice differed in lung lavage cytokine levels following lethal challenge. Immune mice developed significantly elevated levels of pulmonary gamma interferon within 6 h of challenge, while naive control mice developed elevated levels of this cytokine later during the initial 24-h period. Both groups had elevated levels of gamma interferon during the 24- to 48-h period of infection. Both groups also had elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha within 6 h of challenge, but the control mice had significantly higher levels at the 48- and 72-h time points. Elevated levels of interleukin-4 were observed only in immunized mice. This cytokine appeared within 24 h and receded between 48 and 72 h. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis of lung parenchymal cells showed that both groups experienced an initial influx of monocytes, but the proportion of this cell type began to recede in immunized mice after 48 h of infection, while peak levels were maintained in the control animals. These studies suggest that elements of local B lymphocyte activity, as well as Th1 and Th2 lymphocyte activity, may contribute to the survival of immune mice after intranasal challenge with shigellae.