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The Loss and Gain of Marginal Zone and Peritoneal B Cells Is Different in Response to Relapsing Fever and Lyme Disease Borrelia¹

Center for Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794

T cell-independent Abs are protective against Lyme disease and relapsing fever, illnesses caused by Borrelia spirochetes with distinct blood-borne phases of infection. To understand this protective response, we characterized splenic and peritoneal B cell compartments during infection using flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. In the spleen, early after infection, Borrelia crocidurae, a relapsing fever species, induced a striking loss of marginal zone (MZ) B cells from the MZ, while Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, induced the expansion of this subset. At the same time, no significant changes were observed in follicular B cells in response to either species of Borrelia. In the peritoneal cavity, a further loss was demonstrated early in response to B. crocidurae in the B1b, B1c, and B2 cell subsets, but B1a cells were not significantly altered. The loss of B1c and B2 cells was sustained through subsequent peaks of spirochetemia, suggesting these subsets may be important in resolving relapsing episodes. In contrast, an early and significant increase in peritoneal B1a, B1b, and B1c cells, but not B2 cells, occurred in response to B. burgdorferi. Later in the course of infection, both species of Borrelia induced the selective expansion of peritoneal B1b cells, suggesting that B1b cells may participate in long-lasting immunity to Lyme and relapsing fever spirochetes. Our data demonstrate that different Borrelia can activate the same B cell subsets in distinct ways and they each elicit a complex interplay of MZ and multiple peritoneal B cell subsets in the early response to infection.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

¹ This work was supported by Grants R37-AI-027044 and R01-AR-040445 from the National Institute of Health and U54-AI-075158 (Lipkin).

² Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Jorge L. Benach, Center for Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794. E-mail address: jbenach{at}notes.cc.sunysb.edu

³ Abbreviations used in this paper: MZ, marginal zone; FO, follicular; NF, newly formed; dpi, days postinfection.