Interferon production in Propionibacterium acnes treated mice.

Interferonogenic properties of Propionibacterium acnes (PA) was studied in vivo and in vitro using CBA, BALB/c and 129AoBoy strains of mice. IFN was induced only in CBA strain after i.v. PA injection. BALB/c and 129AoBoy mice did not produce IFN. In the sera of CBA mice, obtained after i.p. injection of PA, interferon was not found. However, spleen cells of these mice produced IFN beginning from the 3rd day after injection. This interferon response lasted until the 10th week. Furthermore, in vivo studies showed enhancement effect of PA i.p. injection on IFN synthesis when NDV was introduced i.v. as inducer. The increased interferon level was also observed in the peritoneal cells isolated from PA--pretreated mice, induced in vitro with NDV or PA.