Abstract
We investigated the effect of splenectomy on the susceptibility of rats to intravenous or intranasal inoculation of Haemophilus influenzae, type b. The 50% lethal dose for asplenic rats inoculated either by intravenous (i.v.) (10(4.7)) or intranasal (i.n.) (10(4.6)) injection was similar, but significantly lower than the 50% lethal dose value in sham-operated rats (10(8.6) i.v. and 10(9.0) i.n.). Mean survival time was significantly longer for asplenic rats inoculated i.n. (49.3 h) compared to asplenic rats inoculated i.v. (24.4h). Similarly, sham-operated rats inoculated i.n. survived significantly longer after i.n. challenge (mean survival time, 171.4 h) than after i.v. challenge (34.7 h). Bacteremia was detected in 100% of asplenic rats and in 80% of sham-operated rats. The geometric mean number of bacteria in the blood of asplenic rats (10(4.90) per ml) was significantly greater than in sham-operated rats (10(3.29) per ml). Meningitis was detected in 7 of 15 randomly sacrificed asplenic rats, whereas none of 15 sham-operated rats had evidence of meningeal invasion. Thus, the asplenic rat was more susceptible to experimentally induced H. influenzae bacteremia, meningitis, and fatal sepsis and offers a biologically relevant experimental model for investigating the role of the spleen in defense against infection with encapsulated bacteria.
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