Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2167632 | Cellular Immunology | 2010 | 8 Pages |
Vitamin A-deficient populations have impaired T cell-dependent antibody responses. Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most proficient antigen-presenting cells to naïve T cells. In the mouse, CD11b+ myeloid DCs stimulate T helper (Th) 2 antibody immune responses, while CD8α+ lymphoid DCs stimulate Th1 cell-mediated immune responses. Therefore, we hypothesized that vitamin A-deficient animals would have decreased numbers of myeloid DCs and unaffected numbers of lymphoid DCs. We performed dietary depletion of vitamin A in C57BL/6 J male and female mice and used multicolor flow cytometry to quantify immune cell populations of the spleen, with particular focus on DC subpopulations. We show that vitamin A-depleted animals have increased polymorphonuclear neutrophils, lymphoid DCs, and memory CD8+ T cells and decreased CD4+ T lymphocytes. Therefore, vitamin A deficiency alters splenic DC subpopulations, which may contribute to skewed immune responses of vitamin A-deficient populations.