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Differences in the onset of the inflammatory response to cutaneous leishmaniasis in resistant and susceptible mice
Author(s) -
Beil Waltraud J.,
MeinardusHager Georg,
Neugebauer DorotheaCh.,
Sorg Clemens
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of leukocyte biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.819
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1938-3673
pISSN - 0741-5400
DOI - 10.1002/jlb.52.2.135
Subject(s) - biology , immunology , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , inflammation , cutaneous leishmaniasis , leishmania , population , leishmania major , mononuclear phagocyte system , macrophage , phagocytosis , phagocyte , leishmaniasis , microbiology and biotechnology , parasite hosting , medicine , in vitro , biochemistry , environmental health , world wide web , computer science
Sites of cutaneous infection with Leishmania major in genetically susceptible (BALB/c) and resistant (C57B1/6) mice were investigated for the early inflammatory response (6 h to 12 days) by electron microscopy combined with enzyme‐histochemical methods. Susceptible BALB/c mice spontaneously recruited only polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) at the site of infection. Infiltrating mononuclear phagocytes (and eosinophils) were first observed at day 1 in a ratio equal to the influx of PMNs (about 40%). This pattern persisted during the following 11 days of infection. In the resistant C57/B16 mice, the first cellular infiltrate at the infected site contained mononuclear phagocytes (25%) and eosinophils (15%) besides PMNs (60%). Within 3 days after infection, mononuclear phagocytes became the dominant population of cells in cutaneous lesions (up to 80%). It was found in situ that L. major accumulated and replicated in immature macrophages, that is, intermediate stages between monocytes and resident macrophages, which were found in lesions of both strains. The burden of parasites was, however, degraded more rapidly by the infiltrating cells of the resistant mice than by those of the susceptible ones. Within the first 4 days of infection, the parasites were found in PMNs, mononuclear phagocytes, and extracellular spaces in both strains. In susceptible mice this distribution pattern persisted up to 12 days after infection; in resistant C57B1/6 mice parasites accumulated inside mononuclear phagocytes within this period. It is concluded that the features of acute inflammation during leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice are sustained over a prolonged period that is ineffective in the elimination of L. major .