Peritoneum from Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mice is a homing site of Syndecan-1(neg) plasma cells which mainly provide non-parasite-specific antibodies

Humoral immunity during experimental Chagas disease has been considered a double-edge sword, critical to control Trypanosoma cruzi spreading but also associated to tissue damage. Peritoneal B-1 cells have been linked to the pathogenesis of Chagas disease; however, they may also help to control the infection by providing a fast wave of antibodies. In the present work, we determined that peritoneal B-cell response to T. cruzi is characterized by a marked reduction of CD19(+) B cells due to plasma cell differentiation rather than to cell death. Both peritoneal B-2 and B-1 cells decrease after parasite infection, but with different kinetics. Thus, the reduction in B-2 cell number can be detected from day 4 postinfection while the number of B-1 cells decreases only after 15 days of infection. Differentiation of peritoneal B-1 and B-2 cells into IgM-secreting cells was triggered by parasites but not by cytokines produced by peritoneal cells. Electron microscopy studies showed that peritoneum of infected mice lodges plasma cells with typical morphology as well as atypical plasma cells named 'Mott-like cells' containing high number of cytoplasmatic Ig(+) granules. The plasma cells induced during the infection showed a phenotype that may allow their persistence in peritoneum and they may contribute to the high levels of antibodies exhibited at the chronic phase of infection. We also showed that the peritoneal B-cell response is scarcely specific for the invading pathogen and rather constitute an important source of non-parasite-specific IgM and IgG in the infected host.