[Cachexia in mice induced by a fraction of Brucella melitensis. Modification by levamisole or by diethyldithiocarbamate of soda].

The PMF fraction of B. melitensis creates a wasting disease in newborn mice (J. infect. Dis., 1973, 127, p. 139). Administered to adult mice, PMF induces a 4 to 8 g loss of weight in 20 g mice and more markedly in males than in females. Treatment with Levamisole (LMS) suppresses this difference in response to PMF and restores normal weight in 24 days. Diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), another immunostimulant sulfur derivate, abolishes the emaciating effect of PMF. Furthermore, DDC is an anabolizing agent which increases the weight of normal or PMF-treacted mice above the mean level of normal untreated control mice.