Mouse footpad infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa: evidence for delayed hypersensitivity to specific bacterial antigen.

Mouse hind footpad inoculation with 1 x 10(7) viable Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells produces a long-lasting, self-limiting disease process characterized by a bacterial multiplication that parallels the swelling of the infected footpad. Regional popliteal and inguinal lymph nodes and spleen of infected animals show cellular modifications which are almost entirely due to lymphocyte proliferation, as indicated by sponteneous DNA synthesis experiments in vitro. Furthermore, mice which had been infected in their footpad either 20 or 27 days previously and challenged with P. aeruginosa antigens into the controlateral footpad show, 24 h later, a marked increase in regional popliteal lymph node weight, indicating the development of delayed hypersensitivity to Pseudomonas antigens.