Immunity to Toxoplasma gondii critically depends on TNFR type I-mediated immune reactions, but the precise role of the individual ligands of TNFR1, TNF and lymphotoxin-α (LTα), is still unknown. Upon oral infection with T. gondii, TNF−/−, LTα−/−, and TNF/LTα−/− mice failed to control intracerebral T. gondii and succumbed to an acute necrotizing Toxoplasma encephalitis, whereas wild-type (WT) mice survived. Intracerebral inducible NO synthase expression and–early after infection–splenic NO levels were reduced. Additionally, peritoneal macrophages produced reduced levels of NO upon infection with T. gondii and had significantly reduced toxoplasmastatic activity in TNF−/−, LTα−/−, and TNF/LTα−/− mice as compared with WT animals. Frequencies of parasite-specific IFN-γ-producing T cells, intracerebral and splenic IFN-γ production, and T. gondii-specific IgM and IgG titers in LTα−/− and TNF/LTα−/− mice were reduced only early after infection. In contrast, intracerebral IL-10 and IL-12p40 mRNA expression and splenic IL-2, IL-4, and IL-12 production were identical in all genotypes. In addition, TNF−/−, LTα−/−, and TNF/LTα−/−, but not WT, mice succumbed to infection with the highly attenuated ts-4 strain of T. gondii or to a subsequent challenge infection with virulent RH toxoplasms, although they had identical frequencies of IFN-γ-producing T cells as compared with WT mice. Generation and infection of bone marrow reconstitution chimeras demonstrated an exclusive role of hematogeneously produced TNF and LTα for survival of toxoplasmosis. These findings demonstrate the crucial role of both LTα and TNF for control of intracerebral toxoplasms.

Toxoplasma gondii forms different life stages, fast-replicating tachyzoites and slow-growing bradyzoites, in mammalian hosts. CD8 T cells are of crucial importance in toxoplasmosis, but it is unknown which parasite stage is recognized by CD8 T cells. To analyze stage-specific CD8 T cell responses, we generated various recombinant Toxoplasma gondii expressing the heterologous Ag β-galactosidase (β-gal) and studied whether 1) secreted or cytoplasmic Ags and 2) tachyzoites or bradyzoites, which persist intracerebrally, induce CD8 T cells. We monitored the frequencies and kinetics of β-gal-specific CD8 T cells in infected mice by MHC class I tetramer staining. Upon oral infection of B6C (H-2bxd) mice, only β-gal-secreting tachyzoites induced β-gal-specific CD8 T cells. However, upon secondary infection of mice that had received a primary infection with tachyzoites secreting β-gal, β-gal-secreting tachyzoites and bradyzoites transiently increased the frequency of intracerebral β-gal-specific CD8 T cells. Frequencies of splenic and cerebral β-gal-specific CD8 T cells peaked at day 23 after infection, thereafter persisting at high levels in the brain but declining in the spleen. Splenic and cerebral β-gal-specific CD8 T cells produced IFN-γ and were cytolytic upon specific restimulation. Thus, compartmentalization and stage specificity of an Ag determine the induction of CD8 T cells in toxoplasmosis.

To analyze the role of interleukin-10 (IL-10) in bacterial cerebral infections, we studied cerebral listeriosis in IL-10-deficient (IL-10 ؊/؊ ) and wild-type (WT) mice, the latter of which express high levels of IL-10 in both primary and secondary cerebral listeriosis. IL-10 ؊/؊ mice succumbed to primary as well as secondary listeriosis, whereas WT mice were significantly protected from secondary listeriosis by prior intraperitoneal immunization with Listeria monocytogenes. Meningoencephalitis developed in both strains; however, in IL-10 ؊/؊ mice the inflammation was more severe and associated with increased brain edema and multiple intracerebral hemorrhages. IL-10 ؊/؊ mice recruited significantly increased numbers of leukocytes, in particular granulocytes, to the brain, and the intracerebral cytokine (tumor necrosis factor, IL-1, IL-12, gamma interferon, and inducible nitric oxide synthase) and chemokine (crg2/IP-10, RANTES, MuMig, macrophage inflammatory protein 1␣ [MIP-1␣], and MIP-1␤) transcription was enhanced compared to that in WT mice. Despite this prominent hyperinflammation, the frequencies of intracerebral L. monocytogenes-specific CD8 ؉ T cells were reduced and the intracerebral bacterial load was not reduced in IL-10 ؊/؊ mice compared to WT mice. Following intraperitoneal infection, IL-10 ؊/؊ mice exhibited hepatic hyperinflammation without better bacterial clearance; however, in contrast to the mice with cerebral listeriosis, they did not succumb, illustrating that intrinsic factors of the target organ have a strong impact on the course and outcome of the infection.