Fitzgerald T J, Froberg M K
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Duluth 55812.
Infect Immun. 1991 May;59(5):1869-71. doi: 10.1128/iai.59.5.1869-1871.1991.
Experiments were performed to further elaborate on our congenital syphilis rabbit model. Attempts were made to determine whether in utero exposure to Treponema pallidum would stimulate immune reactivity and whether this activity would, in turn, affect lesion development upon challenge infection. Newborn rabbits aged 2 or 5 weeks were obtained from control does or from does infected intravenously with T. pallidum during pregnancy. Congenitally infected newborns exhibited increased immunologic functions. Concanavalin A-induced T-lymphocyte proliferation was elevated at both 2 and 5 weeks. In addition, macrophage Ia expression and RPR antibody titers were increased at 5 weeks. In separate experiments, newborn rabbits from control does or from does infected during pregnancy were challenged intradermally with viable organisms at either 2 or 5 weeks of age. Subsequent lesion severity was markedly increased in those newborns previously exposed to treponemes in utero. These observations further strengthen our model for congenital transmission of T. pallidum during pregnancy. We propose that at least some of the tissue pathology in syphilitic infection is associated with activated host defenses.
进行了实验以进一步阐述我们的先天性梅毒兔模型。尝试确定子宫内暴露于梅毒螺旋体是否会刺激免疫反应，以及这种活动反过来是否会影响激发感染后的病变发展。从对照母兔或在怀孕期间静脉注射梅毒螺旋体的母兔获得2周或5周龄的新生兔。先天性感染的新生儿表现出免疫功能增强。在2周和5周时，伴刀豆球蛋白A诱导的T淋巴细胞增殖均升高。此外，巨噬细胞Ia表达和RPR抗体滴度在5周时增加。在单独的实验中，将来自对照母兔或怀孕期间感染的母兔的新生兔在2周或5周龄时皮内接种活生物体进行激发。先前在子宫内接触过梅毒螺旋体的那些新生儿随后的病变严重程度明显增加。这些观察结果进一步加强了我们关于怀孕期间梅毒螺旋体先天性传播的模型。我们提出，梅毒感染中的至少一些组织病理学与激活的宿主防御有关。
