engleski

Comparison of virulence of L. longbeachae strains to other Legionella strains in animal model

Legionellae species are one of the causing agents of bacterial pneumonia. Legionella pneumophila accounts for the vast majority of cases in most of the world, with L. micdadei ranking distantly second. Most of the studies has been focused on the understanding the pathogenesis of pneumonia caused by L. pneumophila. Little is know about the virulence of L. longebeache although it’ s leading cause of legionellosis in Austrailia. The aim of this study was to determine the virulence of L. longbeachae in comparison to different Legionella strains including L. pneumophila, L. micdadei and L. steigerwaltii. An animal model of intratracheal infection was established on A/J mice. Our results showed that among all tested strains the most virulent one for mice was L. longbeachae serogroup 1. All the mice that received the dose of 105 cfu of L. pneumophila, L. micdadei, L. longeachae serogrupe 2 or L. steigerwaltii survived and cleared the infection while the mice infected with the same dose of L. longbeachae serogrup 1 developed severe bronchopneumonia and died within five days.

pneumonia; Legionella spp; mice

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