ハムスター足底部へのらい菌接種

マウス足底部における成績との対比

抄録

In 1958, Binford claimed the successful transmission of M. leprae into the hamster. This work has since been confirmed by Convit et al, Waters et al and Burcart et al.
Therefore, we have investigated the multiplication of M leprae in the golden hamster food-pad using materials of the passages (isolated by ourselves) and a lepromatous patient (fresh strain). Futhermore, we have tested comparison of differences in the multiplication rate, sex in the hamster and the mouse, and the enhancing effect of cortisone in the hamster alone.
The inoculum was approximately ⁴ per each foot-pad, and the experimental methods were much the same as those reported for mice. Cortisone was given intramuscularly into each hind leg of the hamsters in the daily dosage of 7.0mg for every 6 days, at the first or at 17th day and 11th week after the inoculation.
First passage in the hamster (i.e. fresh strain to hamster and mouse passage to hamster inoculation): the material examined at 5-40 week after the inoculation with fresh strain and mouse passage showed the counts of acid-fast bacilli similar to those seen in the mouse foot-pad at late stadium, but the number of M leprae in the hamster was greater than that in the mouse at an early stage (approximately 20th week) after theinoculation.
Second passage (i.e. hamster to hamster and hamster to mouse inoculation): the material examined at 24th week after the transmission with the first passage in hamster showed the counts of acid-fast bacilli similar to those of the passage. An attempt to cultivate the bacilli in Ogawa's medium gives negative result. In the case of the inoculation with M lepraemurium into the hamster foot-pad, the sites of inoculation produced the nodular swelling with the inocula of different sizes growing to a swelling of between 7.5×10⁸ and 5.0×10⁵ bacilli per foot-pad. The details are shown in Table 3.
In addition, the number of M. leprae was occasionally greater in the male mouse than in the female, while it was less in the male hamster than in the female, the resultsbeing similar to those seen in thymectomized hamster and mouse, as reported elsewhere.
The number of M. leprae in the hamster foot-pad rose to a plateau level of approximately 10⁶ bacilli. Therefore, they showed that it was in fact possible under these conditions to produce a limited multiplication resembling those in the mouse foot-pads. On the other hand, the number of bacilli in the cortisone-administered hamster rose to a plateau level at an early stage after the inoculation, the fact also being similar to that of the mouse, as described elsewhere.