Ho R S, Fok J S, Harding G E, Smith D W
J Infect Dis. 1978 Aug;138(2):237-41. doi: 10.1093/infdis/138.2.237.
Evidence suggests that in humans tuberculous disease usually arises at apical or subapical sites in the lungs seeded as a consequence of an early bacillemic phase of the infection. This study examined the fate of bacilli transported via the bloodstream to metastatic sites in the lungs of guinea pigs after aerosol infection with approximately two viable virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The results revealed that, even after logarithmic-phase multiplication of bacilli in primary lesions had been terminated, bacilli seeded via the bloodstream to metastatic sites in the lung were able to multiply. These observations, made in an animal model that mimics the conditions under which tuberculosis develops in human subjects, challenge the relevance of systemic macrophage activation in experimental airborne tuberculosis in guinea pigs.
有证据表明，在人类中，结核疾病通常出现在肺部的尖部或尖下部位，这是感染早期菌血症阶段播散所致。本研究检测了豚鼠经气溶胶感染约两个活的强毒结核分枝杆菌后，通过血流转运至肺部转移部位的杆菌的转归。结果显示，即使在原发病灶中杆菌的对数期增殖终止后，经血流播散至肺部转移部位的杆菌仍能增殖。在模拟人类结核病发病条件的动物模型中所做的这些观察结果，对豚鼠实验性空气传播型结核病中全身巨噬细胞激活的相关性提出了质疑。
