Staphylococcal enterotoxin B administration during pregnancy imprints the increased CD4:CD8 T-cell ratio in the peripheral blood from neonatal to adult offspring rats

Abstract

Our previous study demonstrated that Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) administration during pregnancy could alter the percentage of T cells subpopulation in the thymus of the neonatal rats; however, little is known about the effect of maternal SEB administration during pregnancy on T cells subpopulation in the peripheral blood of the offspring rats. In the present study, pregnant rats at gestational day 16 were intravenously injected with 15 mg SEB. The present study found that prenatal exposure to SEB significantly decreased the percentages of CD8 T cells in the peripheral blood of both neonatal rats on the fifth day after delivery and the adult offspring rats. Furthermore, it significantly increased the percentage of CD4 T cells as well as the ratios of CD4 to CD8 T cells in both neonatal and adult offspring rats. Prenatal exposure to SEB significantly decreased the expression levels of IL-4 and IFN-c in the plasma of neonatal and adult offspring rats. Furthermore, SEB restimulation significantly increased the percentage of CD8 T cells and significantly decreased the percentage of CD4 T cells. These data suggest the prenatal exposure to SEB can imprint the increased CD4:CD8 T cell ratio in the peripheral blood from the neonate to adulthood through the decreased CD8 T cells and the increased CD4 T cells, and altered the response characteristics of CD4 and CD8 T cells to secondary SEB administration in the peripheral blood of the adult offspring rats.

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B administration in pregnant rats alters the splenic lymphocyte response in adult offspring rats

“…These results suggest that SEB exposure in pregnant rats was able to cause the decreased percentage of CD8 T cells accompanied by a relative increase in the percentage of CD4 T cells and could imprint the changes of the CD4 and CD8 T cell percentage from neonatal to adult offspring rats. The trend of these changes was similar to those of both CD4 and CD8 T cells in the thymus [15] and peripheral blood [13] of offspring rats in our previous study, suggesting the consistency of changes between central and peripheral compartments about the effect of prenatal exposure of SEB on the CD4 and CD8 T cells. Many studies [21, 22] have suggested that the imprinting effects are caused by the physicochemical and biological factors exposed during pregnancy, and are the developmental origins of health and disease.…”

“…Then, the female rats were kept in separate cages and randomly separated into the phosphate buffer saline (PBS) group and the SEB group. Twelve pregnant rats (four of them used in our previous papers [13, 15]) were used for present study in each group. In the SEB group, the pregnant rats were injected i.v.…”

“…A variety of literatures [9–12] have demonstrated the influence of SEB exposure on T cells during adulthood or neonatal period in animal experiments. Our previous study suggested that SEB exposure in pregnant rats could influence the T cells subpopulation in both peripheral blood and thymus of the offspring rats [13–15], but rarely is known about how SEB exposure in pregnant rats to influence the splenic T cell subpopulation of offspring rats. Therefore, SEB was intravenously injected to the maternal rats at gestational day (GD) 16 in this study.…”

Prenatal exposure of staphylococcal enterotoxin B attenuates the development and function of blood regulatory T cells to repeated staphylococcal enterotoxin B exposure in adult offspring rats

“…These results suggest that prenatal SEB exposure could significantly influence Treg development in offspring rats. We did not differentiate between the sexes because our previous study [ 23 ] found that the effects of SEB exposure to pregnant rats during pregnancy on T cells were not different between female and male offspring rats.…”