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Bias Of The Immune Response To Pneumocystis Murina Does Not Alter The Ability Of Neonatal Mice To Clear The Infection, Cathryn J. Kurkjian, Melissa L. Hollifield, David J. Feola, Beth A. Garvy

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Newborn mice are unable to clear Pneumocystis (PC) infection with the same efficiency as adults due, in part, to their inability to develop a robust immune response to infection until three weeks of age. It is known that infants tend develop a Th2 skewed response to antigen so we sought to determine whether a biased cytokine response altered the clearance of PC infection in neonatal mice. P. murina infection in neonatal mice resulted in increased IL-4 expression by CD4 T cells and myeloid cells, augmented IL-13 secretion within the airways and increased arginase activity in the airways, indicative of Th2-type …