This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wu, H.-S.
Right arrow Articles by Bermudez, L. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wu, H.-S.
Right arrow Articles by Bermudez, L. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, May 2000, p. 2979-2984, Vol. 68, No. 5
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Invasion of the Brain and Chronic Central Nervous System Infection after Systemic Mycobacterium avium Complex Infection in Mice

Hsiu-Shan Wu, Peter Kolonoski, Yung Yee Chang, and Luiz E. Bermudez*

Kuzell Institute for Arthritis and Infectious Disease, San Francisco, California

Received 28 June 1999/Returned for modification 18 August 1999/Accepted 18 January 2000

Central nervous system (CNS) infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria have been described previously, especially in patients with AIDS. To investigate specific aspects of the pathogenesis of this entity, C57BL bg+/bg- mice were infected intravenously with Mycobacterium avium, and cultures of blood and brain as well as histopathology examination of brain tissue were carried out at several time points up to 6 months after infection. Low-grade inflammatory changes with small aggregates of lymphocytes and macrophages as well as perivascular cuffing were seen early in the infection. A small number of bacteria could be observed in the parenchyma of the choroid plexus. Six months after infection, numerous bacteria were present within the foamy macrophage of the granulomatous lesions along the ventricle and meninges. None of the mice developed clinical signs of meningitis or encephalitis or even died spontaneously during the period of observation. Use of CD18-/- knockout mice indicated that transport of the bacterium within neutrophils or monocytes into the brain is unlikely. Mild chronic CNS infection developed in the mice during sustained systemic M. avium infection, similar to what has been reported in most human cases.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Kuzell Institute for Arthritis and Infectious Disease, 2200 Webster St., Suite 305, San Francisco, CA 94115. Phone: (415) 561-1734. Fax: (415) 441-8548. E-mail: luizb{at}cooper.cpmc.org.

Infection and Immunity, May 2000, p. 2979-2984, Vol. 68, No. 5
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Danelishvili, L., Wu, M., Stang, B., Harriff, M., Cirillo, S., Cirillo, J., Bildfell, R., Arbogast, B., Bermudez, L. E. (2007). Identification of Mycobacterium avium pathogenicity island important for macrophage and amoeba infection. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104: 11038-11043 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pandey, R., Khuller, G. K. (2006). Oral nanoparticle-based antituberculosis drug delivery to the brain in an experimental model. J Antimicrob Chemother 57: 1146-1152 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sangari, F. J., Goodman, J., Petrofsky, M., Kolonoski, P., Bermudez, L. E. (2001). Mycobacterium avium Invades the Intestinal Mucosa Primarily by Interacting with Enterocytes. Infect. Immun. 69: 1515-1520 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»