Th17 cells provide direct protective effects that limit stomach parasite burden following orogastric mucosal Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Trypanosoma cruzi is the intracellular parasite of Chagas disease, a chronic condition characterized by cardiac and gastrointestinal morbidity. Protective immunity requires CD4+ T cells, and Th1 cells and IFN-{gamma} are important players in host defense. More recently, Th17 cells and IL-17 have been shown to exert protective functions in systemic T. cruzi infection. However, it remains unclear whether Th17 cells and IL-17A protect against mucosal infection, which is an important cause of human outbreaks. We found that IL-17RA knock-out (KO) mice are highly susceptible to orogastric infection, indicating an important function for this cytokine in mucosal immunity to T. cruzi. To investigate the specific role of Th17 cells for mucosal immunity, we reconstituted RAG1 KO mice with T. cruzi-specific T cell receptor transgenic Th17 cells prior to orogastric T. cruzi challenges. We found that Th17 cells provided protection against gastric mucosal T. cruzi infection, indicated by significantly lower stomach parasite burdens. In vitro macrophage infection assays revealed that protection by Th17 cells is reversed with IL-17A neutralization or loss of macrophage NADPH oxidase activity. Consistent with this, in vivo, mice lacking functional NADPH oxidase were not protected by Th17 cell transfer. These data are the first report that Th17 cells protect against mucosal T. cruzi infection, and identify a novel protective mechanism involving the induction of NADPH oxidase activity in macrophages by IL-17A. These studies provide important insights for Chagas vaccine development, and more broadly, increase our understanding of the diverse roles of Th17 cells in host defense.