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Outcome and immune responses after Brucella abortus infection in young adult and aged mice

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Abstract

Aging results in a general waning of immunity and enhanced susceptibility to many intracellular pathogens. However, in some instances, aging is accompanied by alternative immune responses that can be equal to, or even more effective, than those of young adults. Brucella spp. are intracellular bacteria and important human and animal pathogens, but there are no data regarding the effect of age on host defense in brucellosis. Young or old adult mice (DBA/2 or BALB/c) were infected with either an attenuated B. abortus strain that over-expressed the Brucella superoxide dismutase (strain RB51-SOD) or a fully virulent strain (strain 2308). Survival, organism burden in the spleen, and immune responses were assessed. All young adult and aged mice survived infection with RB51-SOD (up to 6 × 108 cfu) or strain 2308 (up to 8 × 108 cfu). Old mice had a lower organism burden in the spleen than young adult mice five or more weeks after infection. Antibody and cytokine responses were Th1-focused in young adult mice, but Th-mixed in older mice, including evidence of the newly defined Th17 subtype immune response. Immunization with the RB51-SOD strain provided protection vs. strain 2308 challenge in young and aged BALB/c, but only young adult DBA/2 mice. Thus, clinical outcomes of Brucella infection in aged mice are equal or superior to those of young adult mice; immune responses in older mice are less-Th1 specific suggesting alternate pathways may contribute to host defense vs. Brucella in aged mice.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Melissa Trader, Sherry Poff and Catherine B. Carlson for technical assistance. Financial Support: This work was supported by NIAID grant AI057952.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, 27157, USA

    Kevin P. High & Chad R. Marion

  2. Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Rajeev Prasad, Gerhardt G. Schurig, Stephen M. Boyle & Nammalwar Sriranganathan

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  1. Kevin P. High
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  2. Rajeev Prasad
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Correspondence to Kevin P. High.

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High, K.P., Prasad, R., Marion, C.R. et al. Outcome and immune responses after Brucella abortus infection in young adult and aged mice. Biogerontology 8, 583–593 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-007-9106-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-007-9106-6

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