Depletion of immature B cells during Trypanosoma cruzi infection: involvement of myeloid cells and the cyclooxygenase pathway.

The ability of a microorganism to elicit or evade B cell responses represents a determinant factor for the final outcome of an infection. Although pathogens may subvert humoral responses at different stages of B cell development, most studies addressing the impact of an infection on the B cell compartment have focused on mature B cells within peripheral lymphoid organs. Herein, we report that a protozoan infection, i.e. a Trypanosoma cruzi infection, induces a marked loss of immature B cells in the BM, which also compromises recently emigrated B cells in the periphery. The depletion of BM immature B cells is associated with an increased rate of apoptosis mediated by a parasite-indirect mechanism in a Fas/FasL-independent fashion. Finally, we demonstrated that myeloid cells play an important role in B cell depletion, since CD11b(+) BM cells from infected mice secrete a product of the cyclooxygenase pathway that eliminates immature B cells. These results highlight a previously unrecognized maneuver used by a protozoan parasite to disable B cell generation, limiting host defense and favoring its chronic establishment.