Page 383 - 2014 Printable Abstract Book

doses and diminished only at the highest dose (4000 Gy). In BALB/c mice immunized s.c. with native or
irradiated AgTg without adjuvants, presented in ELISA the greatest IgG avidity and antibody production
with 1000 and 2000 Gy AgTg compared to controls (p < 0.05). Control mice showed little to no proliferation
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when stimulated with AgTg for all cells and specifically for CD19 B cells, CD3 CD4 or CD3 CD8 T cells.
Mice immunized with doses of native AgTg exhibited spleen cell proliferation levels of ~5%, which were
equally distributed among cell populations, but mice immunized with 1500 Gy-irradiated AgTg exhibited
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spleen cell proliferation levels of 12.2%, primarily for CD19 or CD3 CD8 lymphocytes and less evidently
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for CD3 CD4 (8.8%) helper T lymphocytes. Co 1500 Gy-irradiated AgTg-immunised BALB/c mice
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challenged with different strains of T. gondii demonstrated protection, with low counts of brain cysts or
detection of T. gondii DNA by real-time PCR in ME49-challenged mice and higher survival with fewer acute
deaths with RH challenge. Thus, we demonstrated the effect of ionizing radiation on the immunogenicity
of proteins and their greater efficacy in the induction of immunity without adjuvants in experimental
toxoplasmosis. Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, gamma radiation, protection, immunity, protein
modification, immunogenicity

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