Relative Immunologic Capacity of Leukemic and Low-leukemic Strains of Mice To Resist Infection
Abstract
A comparative study was made to determine whether young mice predisposed to a high incidence of spontaneous leukemia displayed a distinctive response to infection which could be related to either a hyperactivity of their reticuloendothelial system (RES) or, conversely, some immunologic deficiency. The relative susceptibility to experimental infection of young mice (7–10 weeks old) of "leukemic" strains (AKR and C58) was compared with "low-leukemic" strains (C57BL/6, Swiss, BALB). Test agents included: Candida albicans, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Histoplasma capsulatum, Sporotrichum Schenckii, Streptococcus pyogenes , and Salmonella typhosa Ty2. When the dose levels of mycotic agents were carefully adjusted, it was possible to demonstrate marked differences in the response of male and female mice of the same strain to infection. Relative differences in the susceptibility of diverse inbred strains to mycotic infection were pronounced. Generally, predisposition to leukemia failed to correlate with either resistance or susceptibility to mycotic infection. Results with the bacterial agents presented the same general pattern. Experimental findings were discussed in regard to relative differences in the immunologic competence of "leukemic" and "low-leukemic" mice to resist infection and its possible relationship to early detectable changes in the RES of hosts predestined to manifest spontaneous malignant neoplasms. * The studies at the University of Minnesota were aided by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society; the studies at the University of Michigan by grants from the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies and an institutional grant of the American Cancer Society. Deceased.