Coxiella burnetii infection in C57BL/6 mice aged 1 or 14 months.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of age on infection with Coxiella burnetii, the agent of Q fever. Bacterial burden and granuloma number were increased in the spleens of 14-month-old as compared with 1-month-old mice. This increase was not the result of an anti-inflammatory macrophage response, because inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were induced in macrophages from young mice but were repressed in mature mice. In addition, macrophage microbicidal competence was similar in mature and young mice. These results suggest the importance of individual host factors in the pathophysiology of an infectious disease such as Q fever.
Leone
Marc
M
Unité des Rickettsies, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France. marc.leone@ap-hm.fr
Bechah
Yassina
Y
Meghari
Soraya
S
Lepidi
Hubert
H
Capo
Christian
C
Raoult
Didier
D
Mege
Jean-Louis
JL
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D016997:Coxiella burnetii; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011778:Q Fever / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D013154:Spleen / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology
D016207:Cytokines