Origins of Serum IgE and of the Homocytotropic Antibody-Secreting Cells in the Thoracic Duct Lymph of Rats Infested with <i>Nippostrongylus brasiliensis</i>

Abstract

Mesenteric lymphadenectomy caused a marked reduction in the amounts of both parasite-specific and total IgE in the serum of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infested rats. This was accompanied by reduced quantities of IgE in the thoracic duct lymph, showing that the mesenteric lymph node is of great importance in the generation of the elevated IgE levels which accompany this infestation. Conversely, the intestinal lamina propria and the Peyer’s patches did not appear to be significant contributors to either thoracic duct lymph or serum IgE levels. Homocytotropic antibody-secreting cells specific for parasite antigens were detected in the thoracic duct lymph of lymphadenectomized rats and are believed to arise directly from the gut mucosa and possibly from Peyer’s patches.

Subsets of migrating intestinal dendritic cells

“…The lymph that is then collected is known as ‘pseudo‐afferent’ lymph. This combination of TDC and lymphadenectomy procedures was first used to study cells in pseudo‐afferent intestinal lymph (39) and later to study DCs, ‘non‐lymphoid’ cells, in the MacPherson laboratory (4).…”