Abstract
Mice of I/St strain develop severe lung inflammation and die shortly following infection with virulent mycobacteria. To find out whether tuberculosis (TB)-susceptible I/St mice are susceptible to other intracellular bacteria, we investigated two different taxonomically distant pathogens, Chlamydia pneumoniae and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Comparison of I/St and TB-resistant A/Sn mice (both Nramp1(r)) demonstrated that the former are more susceptible to both salmonella and chlamydia, displaying a significantly shortened survival time following challenge. Lung pathology develops more rapidly in I/St compared to A/Sn mice following infection with chlamydia, despite their similar ability to control bacterial multiplication. Following infection with salmonella, substantial ( approximately 3 log) but very short (second day post-infection) interstrain differences in bacterial loads were observed, accompanied by higher levels of interleukin (IL)-6 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in the peritoneal cavities of I/St mice. I/St macrophages were more permissive for salmonella growth during the first 24 h following infection in vitro. Because the prominent differences in survival time did not correlate with permanent differences in bacterial multiplication, we suggest that both infections trigger fatal pathological processes whose dynamics depend strongly upon the host genetics.