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. 1983 Jun;40(3):936–942. doi: 10.1128/iai.40.3.936-942.1983

Murine encephalitozoonosis model for studying the host-parasite relationship of a chronic infection.

E C Schmidt, J A Shadduck
PMCID: PMC348142  PMID: 6406368

Abstract

Encephalitozoon cuniculi caused chronic nonlethal infections in euthymic BALB/cAnN mice, whereas athymic BALB/cAnN-nu mice died from infection. Specific, anamnestic, transferable, and acquired responses against E. cuniculi were expressed by infected euthymic mice. Resistance to lethal disease appears to be T-cell dependent. Immune serum failed to protect infected athymic mice, whereas the transfer of T-enriched spleen cells from E. cuniculi-sensitized euthymic donors prevented lethal E. cuniculi infections in athymic mice. These findings indicate that murine encephalitozoonosis may be an excellent system for studies of a chronic infection in an immunologically well-characterized host.

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Selected References

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