Effects of interferon-gamma in T cell subsets of mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii

Abstract

This study was performed to evaluate differences of T cell subsets according to the injection period of recombinant mouse interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in acute Toxoplasma gondii infection. Each mouse was infected intraperitoneally with 100 cysts of Beverley strain T. gondii, and injected with 5 x 10(4) units of IFN-gamma every other day two tmres. The percentage of Thy-1,2 cells and L3T4/Ly-2 cell ratio were significantly increased in the mice that received two doses of IFN-gamma on days 2 and 0 before infection, or days 0 and 2 after infection. The percentage of Ly-2 cells decreased in the IFN-gamma injected groups at the 3rd and 4th week after infection. The results suggest that administration of IFN-gamma to T. gondii-infected mice improves the changed population of T cell subsets to a normal state, especially when IFN-gamma was injected just after the infection.