title: Species and strain differences in sensitivity to Toxoplasma infection among laboratory rodents.
abstract: Different susceptibilities to Toxoplasma infection were shown among various inbred and outbred laboratory rodents. On the basis of several criteria, the animals can be divided into three groups: (i) highly sensitive (S) mice, Syrian hamsters and Chinese hamsters; (ii) moderately sensitive (M) Mongolian gerbils and mastomyses ; and (iii) resistant (R) rats and Korean striped field mice. S and M hosts supported intraperitoneal growth of the parasites and died of acute infection. M hosts showed prolonged time to death and low fatality as compared with S hosts. Some R hosts died only when they had received an extremely large size of inoculum, accompanying poor intraperitoneal proliferation of the parasite. WM/Ms and WKY rats markedly resisted the infection. These hosts were considered to be useful models for studying infection of and immunity to toxoplasmosis.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory / Q000469:parasitology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005849:Gerbillinae; D008647:Mesocricetus; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009115:Muridae; D051381:Rats; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal