Mechanisms of recrudescence of Mycobacterium bovis BCG infection in mice.

The capacity of various immunosuppressive agents to cause a recrudescence of the replication of Mycobacterium bovis BCG in the spleens of chronically infected mice was investigated. The actions of three corticosteroid preparations, cyclosporin A, and anti-T-cell subset monoclonal antibodies were compared. Treatment of mice with hydrocortisone acetate, which depressed the number of splenic lymphocytes and suppressed T-cell responses, most effectively exacerbated the stationary BCG counts, at 4 to 6 months after infection. The magnitude of reactivation was more pronounced in innately resistant CBA/Ca mice than in the susceptible C57BL/6 strain of mice. Splenic bacterial counts were also amplified by anti-L3T4 antibody when the antibody was injected at the chronic phase, whereas cyclosporin A had an effect only during the initial 6 weeks after BCG infection. Cultures of spleen cells from chronically infected mice showed a significant increase in the numbers of viable BCG recovered after 7 days of incubation in the presence of dexamethasone but not with cyclosporin A. The observed differences between the tested immunosuppressive agents indicate that the stationary bacterial counts during chronic BCG infection are maintained by discrete T-cell actions on the infected macrophages.