An acute infection model for Mycobacterium intracellulare disease using beige mice: preliminary results.

The development of an acute infection model of Mycobacterium intracellulare disease in Beige mice (C57B1/6J-bgJ/bgJ) was investigated. Intravenous injection of 1 x 10(7) viable colony-forming units of M. intracellulare strain 571-8 produced a 1,000-fold increase in the number of mycobacteria recovered from the lungs and spleens after 28 days of infection. More importantly, 40% of the beige mice died from this infection, as was determined from histopathologic sections and bacterial culturing.