Experimental Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection of Young Guinea Pigs

Abstract

Young guinea pigs were experimentally infected with Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The organisms were isolated from the lungs of infected animals for at least nine weeks thereafter. Mycoplasmacidal antibody developed five weeks after infection, while lung lesions were detected within two weeks after inoculation. The histopathology of the affected lungs was similar to that observed in infected hamsters. The guinea pig may prove to be useful for studies on the pathogenesis of disease and the cell-mediated immune response during infection with M. pneumoniae.