Dissemination of Orientia tsutsugamushi and Inflammatory Responses in a Murine Model of Scrub Typhus
Figure 2
Time course of symptoms and bacterial loads in organs of O. tsutsugamushi-infected mice.
BALB/c mice received an inoculum containing 5×103 sfu of O. tsutsugamushi in the hind footpad. A, The course of infection was monitored by assessing the clinical score. B–D, At 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21 and 28 days p.i., mice were sacrificed, and loads of O. tsutsugamushi in DNA extracts of blood or indicated organs were determined by traD qPCR (n = 4). B, Bacteremia. C, Secondary lymphoid organs (peripheral lymph node (LN), spleen). D, Lung, brain, heart and liver. Graphs show combined results of two independent experiments (n = 4; mean ± SD). E, Organ loads on day 14 p.i. Bm, bone marrow (n = 6–10, mean ± SD. Data were pooled from 2–3 independent experiments. ** p<0.01 comparing lung to any other group, as determined by unpaired two-tailed t test).