Lyme borreliosis in selected strains and ages of laboratory mice.
The susceptibility of laboratory mice to Borrelia burgdorferi was evaluated for selected genotypes and ages. C3H/He, SWR, C57BL/6, SJL, and BALB/c mice inoculated at age 3 days developed uniformly severe polyarthritis at 30 days after intraperitoneal inoculation. Mice inoculated at age 3 weeks also developed polyarthritis, but severity was influenced by genotype, with C3H/He and SWR mice the most severely affected. Susceptible strains developed higher IgG ELISA antibody titers to B. burgdorferi than did resistant mice. Adult (12 weeks) C3H/He mice were also susceptible, but arthritis was not as severe as in those inoculated at age 3 weeks. SKH (hairless) mice developed polyarthritis but not skin disease when inoculated intradermally. Carditis occurred frequently among C3H/He, BALB/c, and hairless mice and in some SWR mice but not in C57BL/6 or SJL mice. This study demonstrates that severity of Lyme borreliosis is age- and genotype-dependent and that laboratory mice are a potentially valuable model.
Barthold
S W
SW
Section of Comparative Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
Beck
D S
DS
Hansen
G M
GM
Terwilliger
G A
GA
Moody
K D
KD
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000276:immunology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005838:Genotype; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008812:Mice, Hairless; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G