Inbred mouse strains differ in resistance to lethal Coccidioides immitis infection

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Abstract
Inbred strains of mice were infected i.p. with C. immitis; the LD50 was determined after 28 days. DBA/2N mice had a LD50 of > 105 arthroconidia; BALB/cAnN, C57BL/6N and C57L/J mice had a LD50 of .ltoreq. 103. Since BALB/c and DBA/2 mice are the H-2d haplotype, resistance is not primarily determined by the major histocompatibility locus. Resistance was the dominant phenotype. The pattern of C. immitis-resistant strains did not correspond to the strain distribution of the lsh gene or to the pattern of resistance to Blastomyces dermatitidis or Cryptococcus neoformans. Resistant and susceptible mice could be successfully immunized with a killed spherule vaccine: susceptible BALB/cAnN mice were protected from an otherwise lethal infection by prior immunization with an attenuated mutant of C. immitis. Despite the evidence that BALB/cAnN mice could respond to immunization, nonimmune mice did not control the later phase of intraabdominal infection as well as DBA/2N mice. Dissemination of C. immitis to the lung occurred frequently in BALB/cAnN but not in DBA/2N mice. Apparently, BALB/cAnN mice cannot mount an effective immune response to C. immitis during the course of infection.