Pathogenecity Studies of Group III (Battey) Mycobacteria from Pulmonary Lesions of Man

¹ Chief, Laboratory Research in Pulmonary Disease, Veterans Administration
² Professor and Chairman, Department of Microbiology, and Tropical Medicine, Georgetown University Schools of Medicine and Dentistry

To investigate the potential pathogenicity of Group III (Battey) mycobacteria, we experimentally infected golden Syrian hamsters (Cricetus auratus), chickens, and rabbits with bacteria obtained from several different patients. Anesthetized hamsters were inoculated intratesticularly and in the subepidermal tissues of the conchae of the ears. Chickens received the bacterial inoculum intracerebrally or intravenously; rabbits, intravenously. Experiments were terminated at various times after two months.

Results demonstrated the pathogenicity of Group III mycobacteria for hamsters and adult chickens. For rabbits, the studies were inconclusive. In hamsters, the impressively consistent results were characterized by progressive, histiocytic, epithelioid, interstitial orchitis. Lesions frequently contained basophilic, laminated units resembling Schaumann bodies. Lesions in chickens occurred most often in the liver and spleen and were usually accompanied by progressive emaciation. In addition, infectious meningitis and cerebritis occurred in chickens inoculated intracerebrally.

The pathogenicity of Group III (Battey) mycobacteria, as demonstrated for hamsters and chickens, provides additional presumptive evidence of the disease-producing potential of these bacteria for human beings.