title: Mycobacterium ulcerans Mouse Model Refinement for Pre-Clinical Profiling of Vaccine Candidates.
abstract: Buruli Ulcer is a neglected tropical disease leading to extensive disabilities and morbidity in West Africa. In this paper we sought to characterize various strains of Mycobacterium ulcerans (M.ulcerans) with different origins and laboratory passage records while refining a mouse model for Buruli ulcer. We described, compared and followed the kinetics of the histo-pathological outcome of infection of a collection of strains at various anatomical sites of infection in order to find a suitable model for further immunization studies. Moreover we compared the outcome of infection in C57Bl/6 and Balbc/J mice. Specifically we described thoroughly one M. ulcerans strain characterized by slow growth rate and limited tissue necrosis, which presents close ressemblance with the infection kinetics in humans. This strain caused macrophages as well as T and B cells infiltration, correlating with mycobacterial proliferation at the site of infection as well as in the draining lymph nodes, making it a suitable strain to screen vaccine candidates efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Angèle
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2099-149X
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bénard
authors.affiliation: Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sala
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pluschke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D054312:Buruli Ulcer / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D005528:Foot / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D019911:Mycobacterium ulcerans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001428:Bacterial Vaccines