FIG. 1.

C57BL/6 mice were infected i.p. with B. henselae. To determine the course of infection, bacterial loads in livers and spleens were determined by culture. Nested PCR was performed with samples of B. henselae DNA from culture-negative livers. The cellular inflammatory reaction in liver tissue was quantified by counting of mononuclear foci. (A) Following i.p. inoculation with 9.1 × 10⁷ CFU of B. henselae, cultivatable organisms were cleared from livers (▾) and spleens (○) of C57BL/6 mice within 4 and 6 days, respectively (five animals per group, with each triangle or circle representing a positive culture from a single organ). DNA from B. henselae (⋆) could be detected in liver tissue for at least 3 months (with each star representing three positive results from three mice). (B) Kinetics of cellular inflammatory reaction in liver tissue following i.p. inoculation with 1.2 × 10⁸ CFU of B. henselae (three mice per group, with each circle representing a single mouse). Mononuclear foci were counted from hematoxylin-and-eosin-stained sections.