%0 Journal Article %T Depletion of peritoneal CD5+ B cells has no effect on the course of Leishmania major infection in susceptible and resistant mice. %+ Laboratoire d'immunologie clinique [Institut Pasteur de Tunis] %+ Immunochimie Analytique %A Babai, B. %A Louzir, H. %A Cazenave, P. A. %A Dellagi, Koussay %Z This work was supported by Aupelf-Uref Agency. The Laboratory of Immunology of Pasteur Institute of Tunis was also supported during this work by the UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) (RSG/ID-890266) %< avec comité de lecture %@ 0009-9104 %J Clinical and Experimental Immunology %I Wiley %V 117 %N 1 %P 123-9 %8 1999-07 %D 1999 %R 10.1046/j.1365-2249.1999.00953.x %M 10403925 %K CD5+ B cells %K Leishmania major %K experimental leishmaniasis %Z Life Sciences [q-bio]Journal articles %X The mouse peritoneal cavity contains a unique self-renewing population of B cells (B-1) derived from fetal liver precursors and mainly producing polyreactive antibodies. Since B-1 cells are a potential source of IL-10, it has been suggested that these cells may contribute to the susceptibility of BALB/c mice to Leishmania major infection by skewing the T helper cell network towards a Th2 phenotype. Accordingly, L. major infection of B cell-defective BALB/c Xid mice (lacking B-1 cells) induces less severe disease compared with controls. However, in addition to the lack of B-1 cells, the Xid immune deficiency is characterized by high endogenous interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production. In the present study, the role of B-1 cells during L. major infection was investigated in mice experimentally depleted of peritoneal B-1 cells. Six weeks old C57Bl/6 and BALB/c mice were lethally irradiated and reconstituted with autologous bone marrow which allows systemic depletion of B-1 cells. Untreated BALB/c, C57Bl/6 as well as BALB/c Xid mice were used as controls. After reconstitution, mice were injected with L. major amastigotes and progression was followed using clinical, parasitological and immunological criteria. As previously reported, BALB/c Xid mice showed a significant reduction in disease progression. In contrast, despite the dramatic reduction of B-1 cells, B-1-depleted BALB/c mice showed similar or even worse disease progression compared with control BALB/c mice. No differences were found between B-1-depleted or control C57Bl/6 mice. Our data suggest that the B-1 cells do not contribute to the susceptibility of BALB/c mice to L. major infection. %G English %L pasteur-00877366 %U https://riip.hal.science/pasteur-00877366 %~ PASTEUR %~ RIIP %~ RIIP_TUNIS %~ RIIP_PARIS