| Title | Immune control of Brucella abortus 2308 infections in BALB/c mice. |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2001 |
| Authors | Murphy EA, Parent M, Sathiyaseelan J, Jiang X, Baldwin CL |
| Journal | FEMS immunology and medical microbiology |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pagination | 85-8 |
| Date Published | 2001 Dec |
| Abstract | BALB/c mice infected with Brucella abortus strain 2308 have 10-fold higher levels of bacteria during the plateau phase of infection (the time period when the number of colony-forming units in vivo remains consistent) than the more resistant C57BL/10 mice. This is due to a cessation of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production that begins after the first week of infection and continues until the end of the plateau phase at least 6 weeks post infection. Despite the lack of IFN-gamma production during this time BALB/c mice are able to prevent an increase in bacterial colony-forming units. Here it was shown that both tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and CD8 T cells were involved in controlling bacterial numbers in BALB/c mice during this time. That is, neutralization of TNF-alpha or depletion of CD8 T cells with monoclonal antibodies resulted in a significant increase in the number of splenic colony-forming units recovered at 3 weeks post infection. In the absence of CD8 T cells there was also a significant increase in splenic macrophages. The role of TNF-alpha may depend upon the presence of interferon-gamma early in the infection since when TNF-alpha was neutralized in interferon-gamma gene knockout mice there was a marked increase in splenic macrophages, NK cells and neutrophils but not a significant increase in colony-forming units. |
| Alternate Journal | FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol. |
