Histoplasma capsulatum infection in nude mice.
Congenitally athymic nude (nu/nu) mice, when injected intraperitoneally with Histoplasma capsulatum, developed a rapidly fatal disseminated infection characterized by heavy parasitization of reticuloendothelial tissues. In contrast, their heterozygous (nu/X) littermates, which possessed a functioning thymus, developed only a low-grade infection which was apparently self-limited and rarely fatal. Transplantation of thymic tissue into nu/nu mice diminished greatly the severity of infection and reduced mortality by about 50%. These studies emphasize the importance of cell-mediated immunity in host defense against histoplasmosis and suggest that the nude mouse may be a valuable model for the study of this chronic intracellular infection.
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006660:Histoplasmosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D013154:Spleen / Q000382:microbiology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology