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Abstract
SUMMARY
Intranasal inoculation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae into hamsters caused pneumonia characterised by peribronchial and perivascular cuffing by lymphocytes. Hamsters immunosuppressed by treatment with anti-thymocyte serum developed a much less severe pneumonia. The numbers of organisms isolated from the lungs of immunosuppressed animals were greater than those obtained from the lungs of immunologically normal animals but there was no evidence that extrapulmonary spread occurred. These results indicate the importance of cell-mediated mechanisms in the pathogenesis of this mycoplasma-induced pneumonia. The hamster model may help to establish the role of cell-mediated immunity in resistance to this type of infection.
- Received:
- Accepted:
- Published Online:
© J. MED. MICROBIOL. 1974