Figure 3
Lymphocyte subsets after M. haemofelis exposure in the ten SPF cats. The five cats in group A had undergone previous “Cand. M. turicensis” infection and the five cats in group B were naïve control cats. The M. haemofelis exposure took place on day 0. A) T cells (CD5 + MHCII+ ) counts, B) CD4+ T cell counts, C) CD8+ T cell counts, D) CD4+/CD8+ ratio, E) CD4+CD25+ activated T cells counts and F) B cell (CD45R/B220+) counts. No significant differences between groups A and B were observed on day 0; significant differences between the two groups observed thereafter are indicated with an asterisk (pMWU < 0.05). Significant differences over time (pF < 0.05 and pD < 0.05) and the corresponding significantly decreased or increased values are indicated with an arrow (black solid for group A and gray open for group B). In detail, increased T cell counts were observed in group A on days 2, 6 and 62 compared with day 83 and in group B on day 9 and 20 compared with day 83 (A). Decreased CD8+ T lymphocyte counts were observed in group A on day 20 compared with days 57 and 83 (C). In the CD4+/CD8+ ratio, in group A, significantly lower values were observed on day 48 compared to days 0 and 41, whereas in group B, higher counts were observed on day 0 compared to days 9 and 83 and on and 41 compared to day 9 (D). CD4+CD25+ cell counts varied significantly over time in cats in group B, with lower values on days 2, 9 and 27 compared with day 6 (E). B cells varied significantly over time in cats in group A, with transiently decreased values on days 20, 27, 34 and 41 compared with days 9, 62, 76 and 83 (F). No values were available for CD4+CD25+ on day 83.