FIG 5.

Temporal distribution of intravenously inoculated Chlamydia in tissues of splenectomized mice. After retro-orbital inoculation with Chlamydia, groups of splenectomized C57BL/6J mice were sacrificed at 24 h (a), 72 h (b), 7 days (c), or 14 days (d) to monitor live chlamydial organisms in different tissues (solid bars) and luminal contents (open bars). The designations for the tissues and luminal contents are as in Fig. 3. The titers of live chlamydial organisms were expressed as log₁₀ IFU per tissue/lumen/swab. Note that hematogenous Chlamydia was detected predominantly in the liver by 24 h (a) and different lumens of the gastrointestinal tract (b, arrows) by 72 h but not vaginal swabs even by day 14 (d, arrow). *, P < 0.05, Wilcoxon rank sum (liver versus lung or kidney in panel a or intestinal tissues versus stomach tissue in panel b). n = 4 or 5 mice for each time point. Data are from 3 separate experiments. The number of mice with detectable IFU in a given tissue/sample is indicated for the samples that were important for drawing conclusions.