Abstract
HUMAN leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae but the organism has never been grown in vitro and only since 1960 has the infection been transmitted to animals. Unfortunately the experimental infection, following inoculation of M. leprae into the foot pads or pinnae of mice and other rodents, was mild, remained localized and the lesion was microscopic (refs. 1–5 and unpublished results of J. M. G.). More recently it has been shown that the limiting factor has an immunological basis, for a progressive and spreading infection can be produced in mice with a reduced immunological capacity (that is, adult thymec-tomy plus irradiation, 900 r)6–9. These findings led to a surge of interest in the use of immunosuppressive agents for the transmission of experimental leprosy. Several synthetic immunosuppressants (ref. 10 and unpublished results of J. M. G.), however, as well as cortisone11, failed to enhance leprosy in mice. Antilymphocytic serum (ALS) was therefore considered because in animals, at least, this has proved to be the most powerful and least toxic immunosuppressive agent yet known12. Leprosy is the most chronic of all the mycobacterial diseases; so we decided first to examine the effect of ALS on tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and murine leprosy (Mycobacterium lepraemurium). These are, respectively, examples of an acute and a moderately chronic mycobacterial infection.
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GAUGAS, J., REES, R. Enhancing Effect of Antilymphocytic Serum on Mycobacterial Infections in Mice. Nature 219, 408–409 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/219408a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/219408a0
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