A lethal model of Leptospira infection in hamster nasal mucosa

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Feb 22;16(2):e0010191. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010191. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a fatal zoonosis caused by contact between skin or a mucosal surface and contaminated soil or water. Hamsters were infected by intraperitoneal injection fto establish experimental leptospirosis, which is not a natural route of infection. There are no reports of nasal mucosal infection in hamsters. In this study, infection of the nasal mucosa was performed to establish a model of natural infection. Both methods of infection can cause lethal models with similar symptoms in the later stages of infection, such as weight loss, blood concentration, increased neutrophils (GRAN), and decreased lymphocytes (LYM) in the blood, severe organ damage and liver function obstruction. The burden of Leptospira in the organs and blood was lower in the mucosal inoculation groups at 1 day after infection. However, mucosal infection induced a higher Leptospira burden in urine than intraperitoneal infection in the late stages of infection. After nasal mucosal infection, antibody levels were higher and lasted longer. These results indicated that the route of nasal mucosal infection is a good choice for studying leptospirosis in hamsters.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / blood
  • Cricetinae
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Leptospira / immunology
  • Leptospira / physiology*
  • Leptospirosis / blood
  • Leptospirosis / microbiology*
  • Leptospirosis / mortality
  • Liver / microbiology
  • Nasal Mucosa / microbiology*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial

Grants and funding

YGC was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32172872). DJW was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.31802261). WLZ was supported by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (2020M670860 and BX20190141). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.