Relationship Between Pneumocystis carinii Burden and the Degree of Host Immunosuppression in an Airborne Transmission Experimental Model
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: To quantitatively assess the risk of contamination by Pneumocystis depending on the degree of immunosuppression (ID) of the exposed rat hosts, we developed an animal model, where rats went through different doses of dexamethasone. Then, natural and aerial transmission of Pneumocystis carinii occurred during cohousing of the rats undergoing gradual ID levels (receivers) with nude rats developing pneumocystosis (seeders). Following contact between receiver and seeder rats, the P. carinii burden of receiver rats was determined by toluidine blue ortho staining and by qPCR targeting the dhfr monocopy gene of this fungus. In this rat model, the level of circulating CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes remained significantly stable and different for each dose of dexamethasone tested, thus reaching the goal of a new stable and gradual ID rat model. In addition, an inverse relationship between the P. carinii burden and the level of circulating CD4(+) or CD8(+) T lymphocytes was evidenced. This rat model may be used to study other opportunistic pathogens or even co-infections in a context of gradual ID.
DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12280
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Inserm, Lebanese University, Université de Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille, Physiologie, Environnement et Génétique pour l'Animal et les Systèmes d'Elevage, Groupe des Écoles Nationales d'Économie et Statistique
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G8080484732
OpenAlex ID: W2201051997