Co-inoculation of Borrelia afzelii with tick salivary gland extract

Folia Microbiol (Praha). 2005;50(5):457-63.

Co-inoculation of Borrelia afzelii with tick salivary gland
extract
influences distribution of immunocompetent cells in the skin and lymph
nodes of mice.

Severinova J, Salat J, Krocova Z, Reznickova J, Demova H, Horka H,
Kopecky J.

Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech
Republic
and Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia, 370 05
Ceske Budejovice, Czechia.

The impact of Ixodes ricinus salivary gland extract (SGE) on
inflammatory changes in the skin and draining lymph nodes of mice,
elicited by the infection with the important human pathogen, B.
afzelii,
was determined using flow cytometry. SGE injected together with
spirochetes reduced the numbers of leukocytes and gammadelta-T
lymphocytes in infected epidermis at early time-points post infection.
In draining lymph nodes, the anti-inflammatory effect of SGE was
manifested by the decrease of total cell count compared with that in
mice treated with inactivated SGE. Changes in subpopulations of
immunocompetent cells apparently reflected the effect of SGE on the
proliferation of spirochetes in the host. The significance of tick
saliva anti-inflammatory effect for saliva activated transmission of B.
afzelii is shown.

PMID: 16475508 [PubMed - in process]

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