Dose-response model for Listeria monocytogenes-induced stillbirths in nonhuman primates.
A dose-response model using rhesus monkeys as a surrogate for pregnant women indicates that oral exposure to 10(7) CFU of Listeria monocytogenes results in about 50% stillbirths. Ten of 33 pregnant rhesus monkeys exposed orally to a single dose of 10(2) to 10(10) CFU of L. monocytogenes had stillbirths. A log-logistic model predicts a dose affecting 50% of animals at 10(7) CFU, comparable to an estimated 10(6) CFU based on an outbreak among pregnant women but much less than the extrapolated estimate (10(13) CFU) from the FDA-U.S. Department of Agriculture-CDC risk assessment using an exponential curve based on mouse data. Exposure and etiology of the disease are the same in humans and primates but not in mice. This information will aid in risk assessment, assist policy makers, and provide a model for mechanistic studies of L. monocytogenes-induced stillbirths.
Smith
Mary Alice
MA
Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, 206 Environmental Health Science Bldg., Athens, GA 30602-2102, USA. masmith@uga.edu
Takeuchi
Kazue
K
Anderson
Gary
G
Ware
Glenn O
GO
McClure
Harold M
HM
Raybourne
Richard B
RB
Mytle
Nutan
N
Doyle
Michael P
MP
D000818:Animals; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000382:microbiology; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000150:complications*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D010920:Placenta / Q000382:microbiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; D050497:Stillbirth