title: Experimental Borrelia burgdorferi infection of outbred mice.
abstract: Infectivity of Borrelia burgdorferi strain 297 in normal outbred ddY mice was examined. Strain 297 was inoculated intraperitoneally in 3-week-old outbred ddY mice. B. burgdorferi was routinely cultured from the heart and urinary bladder 5 to 84 days postinoculation. The combined isolation rate from both heart and urinary bladder was significantly higher than the rate from spleen, kidney, liver, urine, and blood samples. Three- and 10-week-old mice were infected with inocula of 10(4) and 10(5) or more, respectively. Passive transfer of undiluted and 10-fold-diluted anti-297 rabbit serum and active immunization of 50 to 100 micrograms of lyophilized whole cells completely protected mice from infection with B. burgdorferi. These results suggest that the outbred mouse is a convenient model for experimental infection with B. burgdorferi.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masuzawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Beppu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawabata
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yanagihara
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006224:Cricetinae; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006321:Heart / Q000382:microbiology; D007116:Immunization, Passive; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D008647:Mesocricetus; D051379:Mice; D009928:Organ Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000382:microbiology; D014611:Vaccination