Cd8+ t cell immunity is compromised by anti-cd20 treatment and rescued by interleukin-17a

VERNENGO, FACUNDO FIOCCA; BECCARIA, CRISTIAN G.; ARAUJO FURLAN, CINTIA L.; BOARI, JIMENA TOSELLO; ALMADA, LAURA; SERRÁN, MELISA GOROSITO; GAZZONI, YAMILA; MONTES, CAROLINA L.; ACOSTA RODRÍGUEZ, EVA V.; GRUPPI, ADRIANA

mBio

American Society for Microbiology

Año: 2020 vol. 11

2161-2129

reatment with anti-CD20, used in many diseases in which B cells play a pathogenic role, has been associated with susceptibility to intracellular infections. Here, we studied the effect of anti-CD20 injection on CD8+ T cell immunity using an experimental model of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, in which CD8+ T cells play a pivotal role. C57BL/6 mice were treated with anti-CD20 for B cell depletion prior to T. cruzi infection. Infected anti-CD20-treated mice exhibited a CD8+ T cell response with a conserved expansion phase followed by an early contraction, resulting in a strong reduction in total and parasite-specific CD8+ T cell numbers at 20 days postinfection. Anti-CD20 injection increased the frequency of apoptotic CD8+ T cells, decreased the number of effector and memory CD8+ T cells, and reduced the frequency of proliferating and cytokine-producing CD8+ T cells. Accordingly, infected anti-CD20-treated mice presented lower cytotoxicity of T. cruzi peptide-pulsed target cells in vivo.