Lack of protection in mice and necrotizing bronchointerstitial pneumonia with bronchiolitis in guinea pigs immunized with vaccines directed against the hsp60 molecule of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

In this study, the hsp60 and hsp70 heat shock protein antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were tested as potential vaccine candidates, using purified recombinant protein antigens or antigens encoded in the form of a DNA plasmid vaccine. Guinea pigs vaccinated with a mixture of the two proteins showed no evidence of resistance to low-dose aerosol challenge infection and quickly developed severe lung damage characterized by necrotizing bronchointerstitial pneumonia and bronchiolitis. As a result, we turned instead to a DNA vaccination approach using a plasmid encoding the hsp60 antigen of M. tuberculosis. Although immunogenic in mice, vaccination with plasmid DNA encoding hsp60 was not protective in that model or in the guinea pig model and again gave rise to similar severe lung damage. This study seriously questions the safety of vaccines against tuberculosis that target highly conserved heat shock proteins.

Persistence and protective efficacy of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis auxotroph vaccine.

New vaccines against tuberculosis are urgently required because of the impressive incidence of this disease worldwide and the highly variable protective efficacy of the current vaccine. The possibility of creating new live vaccines by the rational attenuation of strains from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex was investigated. Two auxotrophic mutants of M. tuberculosis and M. bovis BCG were constructed by disruption of one of their purine biosynthetic genes. These mutants appeared unable to multiply in vitro within mouse bone-marrow derived macrophages. They were also attenuated in vivo in the mouse and guinea pig animal models. In guinea pigs, the two mutants induced strong delayed-type hypersensitivity response to purified protein derivative. In a preliminary experiment, the two mutants were compared to the BCG vaccine for their protective efficacy in a challenge against aerosolized virulent M. tuberculosis in the guinea pig model. Both mutants conferred some level of protection. These experiments demonstrate that the rational attenuation of M. tuberculosis could lead to the design of new candidate live vaccines against tuberculosis.

Pulmonary bovine-type tuberculosis in rabbits: bacillary virulence, inhaled dose effects, tuberculin sensitivity, and Mycobacterium vaccae immunotherapy.

This report elucidates four aspects of the immunology of pulmonary tuberculosis produced in rabbits: (i) the virulence of bovine-type tubercle bacilli, strain Ravenel S, (ii) systemic factors influencing the generation of visible primary pulmonary tubercles, (iii) differences in tuberculin sensitivity of rabbits and humans, and (iv) the effect of Mycobacterium vaccae immunotherapy on cavitary tuberculosis. Laboratory strain Ravenel S (ATCC 35720) was not fully virulent. Fully virulent strains produce one visible primary pulmonary tubercle for each three bacillary units inhaled. Strain ATCC 35720 produced one such tubercle for each 18 to 107 bacillary units inhaled, indicating that its virulence was reduced by 6- to 36-fold. When a low dose of this Ravenel S strain was inhaled, the host resistance (measured by the number of inhaled bacilli needed to generate one visible primary pulmonary tubercle) was increased at least 3.5-fold compared to the host resistance when a high dose was inhaled. Rabbits and humans differ in the degree and in the maintenance of their dermal sensitivities to tuberculin. Compared to rabbits, humans are 100 times more sensitive to tuberculin. Also, at 33 weeks rabbits with well-controlled cavitary tuberculosis usually showed a decrease in their tuberculin reactions of about 50% from peak values, whereas humans with such well-controlled tuberculosis are thought to maintain strong reactions for many years. These species differences may be due to desensitization to group II mycobacterial antigens in the rabbits because they have a different diet and a different type of digestive tract. M. vaccae immunotherapy of rabbits with cavitary tuberculosis produced no statistically significant effects. Experiments with many more rabbits would be required to prove whether or not such immunotherapy is beneficial.

Hemograms and hematozoa of sharp-shinned (Accipiter striatus) and Cooper's hawks (Accipiter cooperii) captured during spring migration in northern New York.

Hemograms were determined for 26 Cooper's (Accipiter cooperii) and 55 sharp-shinned hawks (Accipiter striatus) captured during spring migration (27 March to 12 May 1987) on the south shore of Lake Ontario, New York (USA). No significant differences were noted in packed cell volume and estimated total solids between the species. However, Cooper's hawks had significantly higher total white blood cells counts and higher concentrations of heterophils, monocytes, and eosinophils. Proportionally, lymphocytes made up a smaller percentage of the differential count in the Cooper's hawk. Eosinophil concentrations and percentages of the differential count were significantly higher in the females of both species. Both species had a high prevalence of Leucocytozoon toddi and Haemoproteus spp. infection. Haemoproteus nisi and H. elani were identified in both hawks. Trypanosoma avium was identified in a single Cooper's hawk and Plasmodium circumflexum was identified in a sharp-shinned hawk. Prevalence of Leucocytozoon toddi and Haemoproteus spp. infections were significantly higher in the birds caught late in the spring as compared to those caught earlier in the spring; this was evidence for a spring recrudescence of patent parasite infections.

T-lymphocyte response in a guinea pig model of tuberculous pleuritis.

The ability to induce tuberculous pleuritis in Mycobacterium bovis BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs was investigated as a model of human disease. A pleural effusion of 5 to 10 ml was obtained 6 to 7 days after the bilateral pleural injection of a suspension of heat-killed M. tuberculosis cells. Histological lesions were indicative of granulomatous pleuritis. Comparative studies of T lymphocytes obtained from pleural fluid and peripheral blood revealed increased antigen-driven lymphoproliferation and E rosette formation in pleural effusion lymphocytes. The CD2+ T-lymphocyte population appeared to be expanded or concentrated in pleural fluid, suggesting a compartmentalization of antigen-reactive T lymphocytes. These data demonstrate that experimental tuberculous pleuritis with effusion, closely resembling the human disease, can be produced in BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs.