Flow cytometry analysis of circulating and splenic follicular helper T ( Tfh) cells in a mouse model of allergic rhinitis / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate changes in the percentages of circulating and splenic follicular helper T ( Tfh) cells and the significance of Tfh cells in a mouse model of allergic rhinitis .Meth-ods BALB/c mice were sensitized by injection of OVA and aluminum hydroxide to establish the model of allergic rhinitis .Flow cytometry was performed to measure the percentages of circulating and splenic CD 4+CXCR5+after staining Tfh cells with anti-mouse CD4-FITC and anti-mouse CXCR5-PE.Concentrations of OVE-specific IgE ( OVA-sIgE ) in serum samples were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA ) .Student′s t-test and Pearson ′s correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis .Results Enhanced infiltration of eosinophils in submucosa was observed in the experimental group .After sensitizing the mice with OVA and aluminum hydroxide , the concentration of OVA-sIgE increased from 43 .47 pg/ml [(43.47±2.58) pg/ml] to 50.44 pg/ml [(50.44±1.40) pg/ml] (P=0.029); the percentage of circu-lating CD4+CXCR5+was up-regulated from 6.25％ [(6.25±1.19)％] to 13.94％ [(13.94±2.77)％] (P=0.026); the percentage of splenic CD4+CXCR5+was down-regulated from 18.04％ [(18.04 ± 4.97)％] to 7.26％[(7.26±0.96)％] (P=0.019).The concentration of OVA-specific IgE was posi-tively correlated with the percentage of circulating Tfh cells (r=0.954, P=0.002), but negatively correla-ted with the percentage of splenic Tfh cells (r=-0.801, P=0.028).Moreover, a negative correlation was found between circulating and splenic Tfh cells (r=-0.787, P=0.032).Conclusion Tfh cells might be involved in the immune responses against allergic rhinitis in mice .