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Sustained and incomplete recovery of naïve CD8+ T-cell precursors after sepsis contributes to impaired CD8+ T-cell responses to infection
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Sustained and incomplete recovery of naïve CD8+ T-cell precursors after sepsis contributes to impaired CD8+ T-cell responses to infection

Stephanie A Condotta, Deepa Rai, Britnie R James, Thomas S Griffith and Vladimir P Badovinac
The Journal of immunology (1950), Vol.190(5), pp.1991-2000
03/01/2013
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1202379
PMCID: PMC3578009
PMID: 23355736

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Abstract

Patients who survive severe sepsis often display compromised immune function with impairment in innate and adaptive immune responses. These septic patients are highly susceptible to ‘secondary’ infections with intracellular pathogens that are usually controlled by CD8 + T-cells. It is unknown when and if this observed immunoparalysis of CD8 + T-cell immunity recovers and the long-term consequences of sepsis on the ability of naïve CD8 + T-cells to respond to subsequent infections are poorly understood. Here, using the CLP mouse model of sepsis we show that sepsis induces a rapid loss of naïve CD8 + T-cells. However, IL-15-dependent numerical recovery is observed a month after initial septic insult. Numerical recovery is accompanied by IL-15-dependent phenotypic changes where a substantial proportion of naïve (antigen-inexperienced) CD8 + T-cells display a ‘memory-like’ phenotype (CD44 hi /CD11a hi ). Importantly, the impairment of naïve CD8 + T-cells to respond to viral and bacterial infection was sustained for month(s) after sepsis induction. Incomplete recovery of naïve CD8 + T-cell precursors was observed in septic mice, suggesting that the availability of naïve precursors contributes to the sustained impairment in primary CD8 + T-cell responses. Thus, sepsis can result in substantial and long-lasting changes in the available CD8 + T-cell repertoire affecting the capacity of the host to respond to new infections.

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