A novel method for isolating mononuclear cells from the stomachs of mice with experimental autoimmune gastritis

Abstract

Autoimmune gastritis induced in BALB/c mice by neonatal thymectomy is a CD4 + T cell-mediated disease. The disease is characterised by mononuclear cell infiltrates in the gastric mucosa, loss of gastric parietal and chief cells and autoantibodies to the gastric H/K ATPase. Here we describe a simple non-enzymatic method for isolating cellular infiltrates from stomachs of gastritic mice by injection of medium directly into stomach walls, causing swelling and rupture. Using this method, large numbers of viable lymphocytes were released from stomachs for analysis by flow cytometry. An 8.3 fold increase in the total number of lymphocytes from diseased stomachs compared to normal controls was obse..