Abstract
Mice are highly resistant to infection byLegionella pneumophila compared with guinea pigs. In the present study injection of mice with moderate doses of cyclophosphamide before and at the time of challenge injection with viable legionellae made the animals much more susceptible to these organisms. The doses of cycloplosphamide used for the short time suppressed the mice in terms of their ability to form antibody and develop cellular immunity toLegionella antigens as measured by the splenic blastogenic assay. Vaccination of mice with a sublethal dose ofLegionella (106 organisms) or with 107 killed bacteria in complete Freund's adjuvant protected the cyclophosphamide-treated mice from infection with liveLegionella. It seems apparent that a vaccine prepared from live organisms or killed bacteria in adjuvant may be protective for immunosuppressed mice.
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Friedman, H., Newton, C., Friedman, A. et al. Specific protection of cyclophosphamide-immunosuppressed mice by vaccination withLegionella pneumophila . Current Microbiology 14, 101–105 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01568411
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01568411