Tanaka H
Microbiol Immunol. 1979;23(11):1055-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1979.tb00537.x.
Congenitally athymic BALB/cA nu/nu mice were employed to elucidate the role of the thymus in experimental Mycoplasma pulmonis strain m53 infection, and nu/+ mice were used for comparison. Chronic polyarthritis was frequently produced in both of nu/nu and nu/+ mice by intravenous injection of the organisms. Macroscopically, nu/nu mice developed severer arthritis and a much lower grade of resolution than nu/+ mice. Periarticular abscess, conjunctivitis, and emaciation were observed in some of the nu/nu mice, but not in the nu/+ mice. Mycoplasmas were isolated from joints and other tissues (including periarticular abscesses and eyelids) of infected nu/nu mice at higher frequencies as well as in greater quantities, and did not show any elimination trends for at least 20 weeks after inoculation. However, nu/+ mice, mycoplasmas were almost exclusively located in joints, and distribution of organisms to the other organs disappeared soon after the infection. Increases in complement-fixing antibody titers were not related to the inhibition of mycoplasmal spread. Thymus-dependent functions that may in some way prevent growth and spread of mycoplasmas in mice are discussed.
采用先天性无胸腺的BALB/cA nu/nu小鼠来阐明胸腺在实验性肺支原体菌株m53感染中的作用，并使用nu/+小鼠作为对照。通过静脉注射该病原体，nu/nu和nu/+小鼠均频繁出现慢性多关节炎。肉眼观察，nu/nu小鼠的关节炎比nu/+小鼠更严重，且缓解程度更低。部分nu/nu小鼠出现关节周围脓肿、结膜炎和消瘦，但nu/+小鼠未出现。从感染的nu/nu小鼠的关节和其他组织（包括关节周围脓肿和眼睑）中分离出支原体的频率更高、数量更多，并且在接种后至少20周内未显示出任何清除趋势。然而，在nu/+小鼠中，支原体几乎仅存在于关节中，感染后不久病原体向其他器官的分布就消失了。补体结合抗体滴度的升高与支原体传播的抑制无关。文中讨论了胸腺依赖性功能可能以某种方式阻止支原体在小鼠体内生长和传播的情况。
