Dynamics of infection of the blood stream and internal organs of white mice withSalmonella typhiby intraperitoneal injection

Abstract

An LD 50 doseS. typhi(strain Ty was injected intraperitoneally into white mice, and the number of micro-organisms was determined after 1 min. and subsequently, in the blood, and after 3 hr. and subsequently, in the spleen and liver. The course of the infection was observed for 34 days.The number of bacteria gradually increased in the blood stream during the first post-infective hours. It was possible to differentiate by external signs from the sixth post-infective hour and onwards between sick animals and recovering ones. This difference corresponded to the bacterial concentration in the blood stream and internal organs.In the sick animals the increase in the bacterial count of blood stream continued till 9–10 hr. after the inoculation, when it reached its first peak. During the following 8 hr. a clear decrease in the blood count was evident which was attributed to the ‘clearing mechanism’ of the blood. The onset of a new bacterial rise in the blood stream appeared 18 hr. after the inoculation and reached a second peak during the further 6–8 hr.In contrast to the observed decrease in the bacterial blood count, a steady and gradual increase in the count of the internal organs was seen; it was steadily progressive till the exitus.In the recovering animals a steady decrease in the bacterial blood count was recorded. Between 24 and 26 hr. the number of micro-organisms in the blood and spleen was found to be 400 times less in the recovering animals than in the moribund ones. From 48 hr. and onwards a slow and gradual decrease in the bacterial count of the surviving animals was observed. The blood became sterile after 25 days. In the spleen and liver of the surviving animals after 48 hr. a new increase in the bacterial count is evident, accompanied by hyperplasia of the spleen. The number of bacteria reached a new peak in the liver on the third day and in the spleen on the fourth day after the infection.Subsequently a slow and gradual decrease in the bacterial count was observed in both organs, but even after 34 days a small number of persisting bacteria in the spleen and liver tissue may be found.