Comparison of host responses induced by Salmonella typhimurium infection in genetically resistant and susceptible mice.
A/J and BALB/c mice differ genetically in their resistance to the facultative intracellular bacterium Salmonella typhimurium. We compared the responses of these strains of mice to a virulent S. typhimurium infection. BALB/c mice mobilised more peritoneal exudate cells in response to the infection than did A/J mice 30 h after infection, but the increase in bacterial counts in the livers and spleens of BALB/c mice was 10-fold higher than in A/J mice. The response to Concanavalin A (Con A) of spleen cells from BALB/c mice was depressed, and both L3T4+ and Lyt-2+ T cell subpopulations were decreased following the infection, whereas the response to Con A of A/J mice was increased and the T cell subpopulations were not altered significantly. These results suggest that A/J mice respond more actively to S. typhimurium infection than do BALB/c mice, and this may be related to the natural resistance of mice.
Takahashi
M
M
Department of Microbiology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Japan.
Ushijima
T
T
Seto
A
A
D000818:Animals; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C / Q000235:genetics*; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013154:Spleen / Q000382:microbiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014774:Virulence