Table 5.
Characteristics of spleens/sera in BALB/c mice after aerosol exposure to strains of B. pseudomallei
| General Properties | Category of Spleens from Aerosol Exposed Mice | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naïve | Normal appearing | Enlarged | Chronically Infected | |
| Gp 1a | Gp 2 | Gp 3 | Gp 4 | |
| Weight, size | ~ 100 mg | ~ 100 mg | > 100 mg - 400+ mg | > 400 mg - > 1500 mg |
| Pyogranulomatous (visable) lesion | No | No | No | Yes |
| CFU recovered | No | No | 0–240 | 103 - 109 |
| Elevated IgG response | No | No, or very low | Yes | Yes |
| Increased inflammatory cells | No | Very littleb | Yesc | Yesc |
| Increased cytokine/ chemokine expression | ||||
| Serum | No | No | No | Yes |
| Spleen extract | No | Yesd | Yes | Yes |
| Ex vivo expression cytokines | No | Very littlee | Yes | Yes f |
| Intracellular cytokine expression | ||||
| TNF-α | No | Very little | Yes | Yes |
| IFN-γ | No | No | Yes | Yes |
a Served as control for all characteristics/properties of other groups
b Includes CD8+ T cells, monocytes/macrophages, and NK cells
c Includes monocytes/macrophages, NK cells, and neutrophils
d Consist of IL-1α, IL-1β, and MIG
e Not statistically different
f Already stimulated