Experimental Infection with Mycoplasma Pneumoniae (eaton's Agent)

The pathogenesis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection was studied in the Syrian hamster with qualitative and quantitative culture methods and special histopathologic techniques. The animals were readily infected with the mycoplasma, which multiplied throughout the respiratory tract. Sensitivity of this experimental host to infection was indicated by the 50 per cent infective dose, which was 10 colony-forming units of the organism. Inoculation consistently resulted in the production of peribronchial pneumonitis which was induced by the mycoplasma. The organisms were visualized in a superficial location in the mucosa of involved bronchi, by means of indirect fluorescent antibody staining and by a modification of the Brown and Brenn technique. The data indicate applicability of the hamster to the study of problems concerned with M. pneumoniae disease which are impractical or impossible to resolve in the human host.