Published in Volume 100, Issue 12
J. Clin. Invest.
100(12):
3014-3018 (1997).
doi:10.1172/JCI119855.
Copyright © 1997, The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Research Article
Immunization against the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis in a murine model.
W Sun,
J W IJdo,
S R Telford, 3rd,
E Hodzic,
Y Zhang,
S W Barthold and
E Fikrig
Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
The agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) is a newly recognized tick-borne pathogen that resides within polymorphonuclear leukocytes. C3H/HeN mice can become infected with the agent of HGE (designated aoHGE) by syringe inoculation or tick-borne infection and develop transient neutropenia. They thereby partially mimic human disease and provide a model in which to study immunity to this microorganism. Mice vaccinated with lysates of purified aoHGE, or administered aoHGE antisera, were partially protected from both syringe- and tick-transmitted challenge with aoHGE. These data suggest that antibodies are sufficient to provide substantial, but not complete, immunity against aoHGE.
