Inhibition of complement activity in murine leprosy.
NIH mice infected with Mycobacterium lepraemurium (MLM) show a marked depression in their levels of hemolytic complement that is proportional to the degree of infection. The defect affects more the activation of complement through the classical pathway (CPW) than the activation of complement through the alternative pathway. Although this low activity of CPW-complement may be due to different causes (complement consumption by the infecting microorganism, lack of biosynthesis of complement components, or the presence of complement inhibitory factors), our results seem to support the last possibility. The generation of factors in the infected animals that inhibit the autologous activity of complement as the infection goes on reduces the risk of complement-mediated tissue damage and prolongs the survival time of the host, a wise strategy on the part of the MLM to assure its own survival as a parasite.
Rojas-Espinosa
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O
Departamento de Inmunología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México, D.F.
Oltra
A
A
Arce
P
P
Mendez
P
P
D000818:Animals; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000097:blood; D003169:Complement Inactivator Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D003170:Complement Pathway, Alternative; D003171:Complement Pathway, Classical; D005260:Female; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D007668:Kidney / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D009167:Mycobacterium lepraemurium / Q000276:immunology*; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000652:urine
D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D003169:Complement Inactivator Proteins; D007106:Immune Sera