Studies on the Interaction of Mycobacterium microti and Mycobacterium lepraemurium with Mouse Polymorphonuclear Leucocytes

Abstract

When polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) elicited in mice were infected with Mycobacteriummicroti or Mycobacterium lepraemurium, phagosome-lysosome fusion occurred with both species. This contrasts with the situation in macrophages where phagosome-lysosome fusion is inhibited by M. microtibut not M. lepraemurium. No evidence was found for killing of M. microtior M. lepraemuriumwhen the bacteria were isolated from PMN and their viability tested in cell-free medium or macrophages.