Virulence of oral "Fusobacterium nucleatum" from humans and non-human primates in mice

ABSTRACT

The lethal action in Balb/c mice of 80 oral "Fusobacterium nucleatum" recovered from patients with adult periodontitis, healthy subjects of "Cebus apella" monkeys was studied. Mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with each bacterial inoculum of 5,0E+8 CFU/ml. All the clinical isolates induced weight and coordinated movements loss. Pathological alterations in liver, CNS, heart, and kidney with inflammatory reactions of vascular congestion were observed. Of all the tested "F. nucleatum" isolates, 61.2(per cent) from periodontal patients, 57.1(per cent) from healthy subjects and 60(per cent) from monkeys, were capable of killing the mice in 48h. The clinical isolates were significantly more pathogenic than "F. nucleatum" ATCC 10953 or ATCC 25586. "B. fragilis" ATCC 23745 showed lethality against control mice. Our results suggest that LPS could be involved in lethal action against mice and it may play an important role in producing tissue damage or death of mice.