However, this housing-associated difference was not present in the infected mice (Fig. 6). The present study shows that the provision of nesting material, a nest box and a wooden chew block does not alter the immune response to chronic mycobacterial infection, as assessed by the organ

bacterial load, the serum level of IFN-γ, the numbers of different cells populations in the buy PLX-4720 spleen and the activation status of CD4+ T cells (the most relevant cell type on the acquired immune response against mycobacteria). In addition, basic physiological parameters such as body weight gain and body temperature were not altered by the enrichment. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a simple, practical and ethologically relevant environmental enrichment has been evaluated for immunology research during a chronic infection. The results obtained strongly suggest that this type of enrichment can be incorporated in chronic infection studies without affecting the research

results. Even though the aim of the study was to address whether housing enrichment Lumacaftor cost would impact on the immune response to infection, a group of non-infected animals was included as a control for the immunological parameters. The present study shows that even when slight changes in immune cell populations are induced by providing cage enrichments, these do not modulate the course

of infection by M. avium. Previous studies have also described alterations Vitamin B12 on the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in non-infected mice housed in enriched and super-enriched cages (cages bigger than the regular size and containing various structures) [16]. The activity of T and NK cell has also been shown to be influenced by other environmental conditions, namely the number of male mice housed per cage [15] and the use of super-enriched cages including running-wheels [38]. This brings us to another aspect for discussion: the possibility that enrichment influence stress, a recognized factor that alters response to infection. In previous studies, male mice housed in super-enriched cages showed decreased resistance to the parasite Babesia microti, and this was associated with increased social stress and increased circulating corticosterone levels [39]. On the contrary, increased resistance was observed in Herpes Simplex virus-infected mice housed in cages containing running-wheels [40]. It should be noticed that the majority of studies addressing the effect of housing conditions in the immune system per se, or on the ability of the immune system to fight infecting microorganisms, have essentially evaluated quite extreme situations that differ considerably in the social stress caused to the animals [15, 41], or in the ability to perform physical exercise.