HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Moro, M. H. Articles by Persing, D. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Moro, M. H. Articles by Persing, D. H.

Gestational Attenuation of Lyme Arthritis Is Mediated by Progesterone and IL-4¹

Manuel H. Moro^*, Johannes Bjornsson, Eric V. Marietta^*, Erik K. Hofmeister^*, Jeffrey J. Germer^*, Elizabeth Bruinsma^*, Chella S. David^* and David H. Persing^,

Departments of ^* Immunology and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Foundation, Rochester, MN 55905; and Infectious Disease Research Institute and Corixa Corporation, Seattle Life Sciences Center, Seattle, WA 98104

Infection of different strains of laboratory mice with the agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, results in arthritis, the severity of which has been correlated with the dominance of Th1 cytokines. In this study, we demonstrate that changes in B. burgdorferi-specific immunologic responses associated with pregnancy can alter the outcome of Lyme arthritis in mice. Whereas nonpregnant female C3H mice consistently developed severe Lyme arthritis, pregnant mice had a marked reduction in arthritis severity that was associated with a slight reduction in IFN- and markedly increased levels of IL-4 production by B. burgdorferi-specific T cells. Similar reductions in arthritis severity and patterns of cytokine production were observed in nonpregnant, progesterone-implanted mice. Ab neutralization of IL-4 in progesterone-implanted mice resulted in severe arthritis. Our results are consistent with the known shift toward Th2 cytokine expression at the maternal-fetal interface, and are the first to show a pregnancy-related therapeutic effect in an infectious model.