Open AccessBordetella pertussis respiratory infection in C57B1/6 and Balb/c mice: Pathophysiology and immune responses
Author(s) -
Alonso J.M.,
Ravisse P.,
Brezin C.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1987.tb02038.x
Subject(s) - bordetella pertussis , balb/c , immunology , immune system , pathophysiology , respiratory system , biology , virology , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , bacteria , pathology , genetics
A virulent clone of Bordetella pertussis, injected intranasally into C57B1/6 or Balb/c mice, induced a respiratory tract infection that mimicked the infectious process of whooping cough. The density of the inoculum influenced the kinetics of in vivo bacterial growth, as well as the associated leucocytosis, which were of equivalent intensity in both strains of mice. Convalescing mice became resistant to re‐infection, but not to the effects of the leucocytosis‐promoting factor of the pertussis toxin. Prominent immune response, associated with acquired resistance, was a delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction, the intensity of which depended upon the genotype of the mice when the eliciting antigen contained the pertussis toxin in a biologically active form. Intranasal infection of congenic mice may represent an improved quantitative test for reproducible measurement of virulence and immunogenicity of B. pertussis .