The virulence of South Indian tubercle bacilli in mice and guinea-pigs infected by the intravenous route

Wallace, J G and Mitchison, D A and Rees, R J W and Bhatia, A L and Gangadharam, P R J (1961) The virulence of South Indian tubercle bacilli in mice and guinea-pigs infected by the intravenous route. Tubercle, 42 (2). pp. 212-217. ISSN 1472-9792

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Abstract

Cultures of tubercle bacilli from 7 South Indian patients, selected for their low virulence by the intramuscular route in the guinea-pig, and from 6 British patients, were tested for their virulence in the mouse by injecting 0.1 mg. and 0.025 mg. intravenously. With the higher dose no differences were found between the Indian and British cultures in the proportions of mice that died from tuberculosis or in their median survival periods. With the lower dose there was a suggestion that the mice infected with Indian cultures survived longer. Guinea-pigs were infected intravenously with cultures from 2 Indian and 2 British patients, and the number of viable organisms in their spleens were counted at intervals thereafter. Following an initial 2 weeks of growth in the spleens, during which there were only small differences in the growth rates of virulent and attenuated bacilli, the counts on the most attenuated of the Indian cultures decreased, whereas the remaining 3 cultures continued to multiply and killed the guinea-pigs, The failure to demonstrate the difference in virulence between cultures from Indian and British patients in the mouse is attributed mainly to the route of infection and a consequent lower dosage in the visceral organs. The manifestations in experimental tuberculosis of attenuation shown by isoniazid-sensitive cultures from Indian patients and by isoniazidresistant cultures from patients of other races are closely similar.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Tuberculosis > Laboratory Research
Divisions:	Basic Science Research
Depositing User:	Dr. Rathinasabapati R
Date Deposited:	16 Jul 2013 06:22
Last Modified:	08 Mar 2016 04:35
URI:	http://eprints.nirt.res.in/id/eprint/45

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