title: Influence of dose and route of Mycobacterium lepraemurium inoculation on the production of interleukin 1 and interleukin 2 in C57BL/6 mice.
abstract: Groups of C57BL/6 mice were infected either intravenously or subcutaneously with 10(5) or 10(8) Mycobacterium lepraemurium cells, and the ability of their splenic macrophages and T-cells to produce, respectively, interleukin 1 on lipopolysaccharide stimulation and interleukin 2 on concanavalin A stimulation was assessed during the course of infection. In all groups of infected mice, interleukin 1 production remained unaffected during the entire observation period, whereas interleukin 2 activity decreased as the infection progressed. Heavily infected mice (10(8) M. lepraemurium cells) showed an earlier and stronger deficiency interleukin 2 production by concanavalin A-stimulated spleen cells than did mice infected with a lower dose (10(5) bacilli), without detectable influence by the route of inoculation. In mice receiving 10(5) bacilli, minor differences were seen according to the route of infection, with a slight delay in interleukin 2 decrease in mice injected intravenously. In subcutaneously inoculated mice, the failure of spleen cells to produce interleukin 2 after concanavalin A stimulation did not correlate with the number of bacilli developing in the spleen, suggesting the existence of suppressor mechanisms acting at a distance from the site of inoculation.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007700:Kinetics; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL / Q000276:immunology*; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D009167:Mycobacterium lepraemurium
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1; D007376:Interleukin-2; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D003208:Concanavalin A