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Mouse Model of Coxiella burnetii Aerosolization
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Edité par CCSD ; American Society for Microbiology -
International audience. Coxiella burnetii is mainly transmitted by aerosols and is responsible ă for multiple-organ lesions. Animal models have shown C. burnetii ă pathogenicity, but long-term outcomes still need to be clarified. We ă used a whole-body aerosol inhalation exposure system to mimic the ă natural route of infection in immunocompetent (BALB/c) and severe ă combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. After an initial lung inoculum of ă 10(4) C. burnetii cells/lung, the outcome, serological response, ă hematological disorders, and deep organ lesions were described up to 3 ă months postinfection. C. burnetii-specific PCR, anti-C. burnetii ă immunohistochemistry, and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) ă targeting C. burnetii-specific 16S rRNA completed the detection of the ă bacterium in the tissues. In BALB/c mice, a thrombocytopenia and ă lymphopenia were first observed, prior to evidence of C. burnetii ă replication. In all SCID mouse organs, DNA copies increased to higher ă levels over time than in BALB/c ones. Clinical signs of discomfort ă appeared in SCID mice, so follow-up had to be shortened to 2 months in ă this group. At this stage, all animals presented bone, cervical, and ă heart lesions. The presence of C. burnetii could be attested in situ for ă all organs sampled using immunohistochemistry and FISH. This mouse model ă described C. burnetii Nine Mile strain spread using aerosolization in a ă way that corroborates the pathogenicity of Q fever described in humans ă and completes previously published data in mouse models. C. burnetii ă infection occurring after aerosolization in mice thus seems to be a ă useful tool to compare the pathogenicity of different strains of C. ă burnetii.
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