Trypanosoma cruzi-induced immunosuppression: B cells undergo spontaneous apoptosis and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) arrests their proliferation during acute infection

Acute infection with Trypanosoma cruzi is characterized by multiple manifestations of immunosuppression of both cellular and humoral responses. B cells isolated at the acute stage of infection have shown marked impairment in their response to polyclonal activators in vitro. The present work aims at studying the B cell compartment in the context of acute T. cruzi infection to provide evidence for B cell activation, spontaneous apoptosis and arrest of the cell cycle upon mitogenic stimulation as a mechanism underlying B cell hyporesponse. We found that B cells from acutely infected mice, which fail to respond to the mitogen LPS, showed spontaneous proliferation and production of IgM, indicating a high level of B cell activation. Furthermore, these activated B cells also exhibited an increase in Fas expression and apoptosis in cultures without an exogenous stimulus. On the other hand, B cells from early acute and chronic infected mice did not present activation or apoptosis, and were able to respond properly to the mitogen. Upon in vitro stimulation with LPS, B cells from hyporesponder mice failed to progress through the cell cycle (G₀/G₁ arrest), nor did they increase the levels of apoptosis. These results indicate that B cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest could be the mechanisms that control intense B cell expansion, but at the same time could be delaying the emergence of a specific immune response against the parasite.