The mechanisms of immunity to salmonellae conferred by immunization with live vaccines were studied by adoptive transfer using the mouse-virulent strain Salnonella typhimurium C5 and innately susceptible BALB/c (by) mice. This organism cannot establish a sublethal infection in naive BALB/c mice. Animals immunized 2 to 3 months earlier with the S. typhimurium SL3261 aroA live vaccine were used as donors of serum, spleen cells, and mesenteric lymph node cells for naive recipients which were challenged orally with the virlent C5 strain. Simultaneous transfer of both immune serum and immune cells was necessary for protection. Simultaneously depleting the donors of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells by administration of antisera in vivo prior to cell harvesting showed that T cells were necessary for protection. The results demonstrate that both antibody and T cells are required for recall of immunity to oral challenge with virulent salmonellae in innately susceptible mice and suggest that the ability to elicit opsonizing antibody in addition to cell-mediated immunity is important for optimal protection induced by salmonella vaccines.

Spleen and peritoneal macrophages obtained from innately resistant A/J mice released low levels of interleukin 18 (IL-18) upon infection with Salmonella typhimurium C5 RP4. Incubating the cells with recombinant gamma interferon (rIFN-γ) enhanced IL-18 production. A/J mice treated in vivo with anti-IL-18 antibodies showed impaired resistance to infection, with increased bacterial loads in the liver and spleen. Administration of rIL-18 could protect A/J mice from challenge with a lethal dose of virulent salmonellae, with a dramatic reduction in bacterial numbers in the tissues. rIL-18 administration did not ameliorate the disease in IFN-γ-R−/− mice. IL-18 proved to be required for IFN-γ production by mouse splenocytes from conventional, scid, andrag-1 −/− mice; in vivo IL-18 neutralization caused a decrease in circulating IFN-γ levels. Thus, IL-18 is a key factor in early host resistance to Salmonella and probably acts via IFN-γ.

The attenuated S. typhimurium SL3261 (aroA) strain causes mild infections in BALB/c mice. We were able to exacerbate the disease by administering anti-interleukin-12 (IL-12) antibodies, resulting in bacterial counts in the spleens and livers of anti-IL-12-treated mice that were 10- to 100-fold higher than the ones normally observed in premortem mice; yet the animals showed only mild signs of illness. Nevertheless, they eventually died of a slow, progressive disease. Mice infected with salmonellae become hypersusceptible to endotoxin. We found that IL-12 neutralization prevented the death of infected mice following subcutaneous injection of lipopolysaccharide. Granulomatous lesions developed in the spleens and livers of control animals, as opposed to a widespread infiltration of mononuclear cells seen in the organs of anti-IL-12-treated mice. In the latter (heavily infected), salmonellae were seen within mononuclear cells, indicating an impairment of the bactericidal or bacteriostatic ability of the phagocytes in the absence of biologically active IL-12. Gamma interferon (IFN-γ) levels were reduced in the sera and tissue homogenates from anti-IL-12-treated mice compared to those in control animals. Furthermore, fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis on spleen cells showed that IL-12 neutralization impaired the upregulation of I-Ad/I-Ed antigens on macrophages from infected mice. Inducible nitric oxide synthase and IFN-γ mRNA production was down-regulated in anti-IL-12-treated mice, which also showed an increased production of IL-10 mRNA and a decrease in nitric oxide synthase activity in the tissues. Administration of recombinant IFN-γ to anti-IL-12-treated mice was able to restore host resistance, granuloma formation, and expression of major histocompatibility complex class II antigens in F4/80+ and CD11b+ spleen cells.

Innately resistant (Ity r) A/J mice infected with the virulent Salmonella typhimurium C5 strain suppress the early exponential bacterial growth in the reticuloendothelial system toward the end of the first week of infection, with spleen and liver bacterial counts reaching a plateau phase. In vivo administration of neutralizing anti-interleukin-12 (IL-12) antibodies did not affect early bacterial growth in the tissues (days 1 to 3) but impaired the establishment of the plateau, with higher spleen and liver counts by day 7 of the infection in anti-IL-12 treated mice than in untreated controls. Gamma interferon (IFN-␥) was detectable in the sera and spleen homogenates of both control and anti-IL-12-treated mice on days 3 and 7 of the infection. Noticeably, IFN-␥ levels were significantly lower in anti-IL-12 treated mice than in control animals. Splenocytes from uninfected A/J mice released IFN-␥ in response to concanavalin A (ConA) or to S. typhimurium C5. In vitro IL-12 neutralization dramatically impaired the IFN␥ response to S. typhimurium but not to ConA. Splenocytes harvested from infected anti-IL-12 treated mice on day 7 of the infection produced significantly lower amounts of IFN-␥ upon in vitro stimulation with ConA and with a Salmonella protein-rich extract than did cells from similarly infected untreated control animals. Spleen cells from infected mice showed lower proliferative (mitogenic) responses to ConA and to a Salmonella soluble extract than did cells from uninfected mice. In vivo anti-IL-12 treatment significantly restored the ability of splenocytes from infected mice to proliferate in response to the antigens and ConA. In vivo neutralization of IL-12 in innately susceptible BALB/c mice (Ity s) immunized with a live attenuated aromatic-dependent Salmonella vaccine reduced host resistance to virulent oral challenge with S. typhimurium C5. Thus, in primary Salmonella infections, IL-12 mediates the suppression of growth of virulent salmonellae in the reticuloendothelial system, positively modulates IFN-␥ production, and is involved in the immunosuppression which accompanies the acute stages of the disease. IL-12 also contributes to host resistance to virulent organisms in secondary infections.