This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Babay, B. E. C. Articles by Cazenave, P.-A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Babay, B. E. C. Articles by Cazenave, P.-A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

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, Hechmi Louzir,^1, Chahnaz Kebaïer,¹ Samir Boubaker,¹ Koussay Dellagi,¹ and Pierre-André Cazenave^2*

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.

Editor: S. H. E. Kaufmann

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

This article has been cited by other articles:

• 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]