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Infection and Immunity, August 2004, p. 4603-4611, Vol. 72, No. 8
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.8.4603-4611.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Inbred Strains Derived from Feral Mice Reveal New Pathogenic Mechanisms of Experimental Leishmaniasis Due to Leishmania major

Besma E. C. Babay,1,2,{dagger} Hechmi Louzir,1,{dagger} Chahnaz Kebaïer,1 Samir Boubaker,1 Koussay Dellagi,1 and Pierre-André Cazenave2*

Laboratory of Immunology (LAF 301), Institut Pasteur de Tunis (WHO Collaborating Center for Training and Research on Leishmaniasis), 1002 Tunis-Belvédère, Tunisia,1 Unité d'Immunophysiopathologie Infectieuse, CNRS URA 1961 and Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France2

Received 11 July 2003/ Returned for modification 6 November 2003/ Accepted 3 May 2004

Two inbred mouse strains, derived from feral founders, are susceptible to experimental leishmaniasis due to Leishmania major and support a disease of a severity intermediate between those observed in strains C57BL/6 and BALB/c. Mice of the MAI strain develop a severe, nonhealing, but nonfatal disease with no resistance to a secondary parasite challenge. The immunological responses showed a TH2 dominance characterized by an early peak of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-13. However, neutralization of IL-4, which leads to a resistance phenotype in BALB/c mice, has no effect on disease progression in MAI mice. Mice of strain PWK develop a protracted but self-healing disease, characterized by a mixed TH1-plus-TH2 pattern of immune responses in which IL-10 plays an aggravating role, and acquire resistance to a secondary challenge. These features are close to those observed in human cutaneous leishmaniasis due to L. major and make PWK mice a suitable model for the human disease.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité d'Immunophysiopathologie Infectieuse, CNRS URA 1961, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. Phone: 33-1 4568-8585. Fax: 33-1 4061-3066. E-mail: cazenave{at}pasteur.fr.

Editor: S. H. E. Kaufmann

{dagger} B.E.C.B. and H.L. contributed equally to this study.

Infection and Immunity, August 2004, p. 4603-4611, Vol. 72, No. 8
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.8.4603-4611.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

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  • Thiriot, A., Drapier, A.-M., Vieira, P., Fitting, C., Cavaillon, J.-M., Cazenave, P.-A., Rueff-Juy, D. (2007). The Bw Cells, a Novel B Cell Population Conserved in the Whole Genus Mus. J. Immunol. 179: 6568-6578 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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