title: Magnetic resonance imaging of Klebsiella pneumoniae-induced pneumonia in mice.
abstract: In vivo imaging of small animals is a rapidly developing field. However, the potential of global imaging of infectious processes in animal models remains poorly explored. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to follow the development and regression of inflammatory lesions caused by infection by Klebsiella pneumoniae in mouse lungs. A virulent strain caused an intense inflammation within 2 days in the whole lungs, while an avirulent strain did not show significant changes. Mice infected with the virulent strain and subsequently treated with antibiotics presented a severe inflammation localized mainly in the left lung that disappeared after a week. The lesions observed by MRI correlated with the damage seen by histological analysis and a 3D representation of the tissue allowed better visualization of the development and healing of inflammatory lesions. MRI thus represents a powerful technique to study in vivo the interactions between a pathogen and its host in real time.
authors.affiliation: Pathogénie Microbienne Moléculaire - INSERM 389, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. tournebi@pasteur.fr
authors.forename: Régis
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tournebize
authors.forename: Bich-Thuy
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Doan
authors.forename: Marie-Agnès
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dillies
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maurin
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Beloeil
authors.forename: Philippe J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Sansonetti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*