Date of Award:

5-1994

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Biology

Committee Chair(s)

Mark C. Healey

Committee

Mark C. Healey

Committee

Shiguang Yang

Committee

Kathleen R. Rasmussen

Committee

Reed P. Warren

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to quantitate the populations o f lymphocytes in the spleens and intestines of normal and immunosuppressed adult C57BL/6N mice that were noninfected or infected with Cryptosporidium parvum. This was accomplished by using the following methodologies: immunohistochemistry, ELISA-spot assay, and flow cytometry.

Mice in groups 1 and 2 were immunosuppressed, but only group 2 was infected. Mice in group 3 were only infected, whereas group 4 served as the normal control. Mice were immunosuppressed with dexamethasone (DEXI at a dosage of 125µg/mouse/day. Infected mice received 106 oocysts per os . The numbers o f lymphocytes were monitored from day 0 to day 18 postinfection. Flow cytometry using antibodies directed against CD4+ and CDS+ T cells (helper and cytotoxic, respectively) and B cells (expressing IgG, IgM, and IgA receptors) revealed that c. parvum did not evoke an alteration in the phenotypic profile of lymphocytes within spleens or Peyer's patches (PP) of mice in groups 2 and 3 that was statistically different from groups 1 and 4. Immunosuppressed mice (groups 1 and 2) had significantly fewer lymphocytes (bearing CD4+, IgG, IgM, and IgA receptors) within the spleen when compared with mice in groups 3 and 4 (P

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