engleski

The pathogenic potential of different Legionella species in A/J mice

There are 48 species and 70 distinct serogroups in the genus Legionella, from which 20 have been associated with human disease. L. pneumophila and L. micdadei are two most common species of Legionella that causes disease in Europe and USA. Interestingly, L. longbeachae is the leading cause of legionellosis in many reagions of Australia. In our study we decided to compare pathogenic potential of different Legionella species in A/J mice. A/J mice were intratracheally inoculated with different Legionella spp. (L. pneumophila, L. longbeachae serogroup 1, L. longbeachae serogroup 2, L. micdadei and L. steigerwaltii) using a dose of 10(5) CFU. The pathogenic potential of different Legionella spp. was investigated in mice in terms of survival and CFU detection. The intratracheal inoculation of 10(5)CFU L.longbeachae serogroup 1 caused death in 90% of the infected animals within 5 days, while A/J mice infected with other Legionella species all survived infection. During the first 72 hours L. longbeachae serogrup 1 rapidly multiplicated in the lungs of intratracheally infected mice, while the number of L. pneumophila and L. micdadei did not change. L. longbeachae serogroup 2, and L. steigerwaltii were promptly eliminated from the lungs of infected mice. Our results show a strong difference in the virulence among Legionella species used in our study. L. longbeachae serogroup 1 is the most virulent species in the used animal model.

Legionella; animal model

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