Abstract

We investigated the possibility of a link between the spread of Chlamydia pneumoniae from the lungs to the peripheral blood and the development of diabetes in NOD mice that were not obese diabetics. After multiple intranasal inoculations, we detected bacteria in the lung of NOD mice with diabetes and institute of cancer research, USA mice using real time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) with C. pneumoniae 16S rRNA primers. However, the prevalence of bacteria in NOD mice without diabetes, pre-diabetic NOD mice and non-diabetic retired NOD mice was very low. The bacteria were only found in hydrocortisone cultured mononuclear cells from the diabetic NOD mice’s peripheral blood. The PBMCs were determined to be positive by RT-PCR and immunostaining with fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated ant Chlamydia monoclonal antibody also revealed the presence of bacterial antigens in the lungs. However, the cultivation method and inclusion forming units assay failed to detect C. pneumoniae in the PBMCs of all NOD mice. Additionally, it was confirmed that C. pneumoniae intranasal inoculation had no effect on the development of diabetes in NOD mice.

Keywords: Chlamydia pneumoniae; Diabetes; Dissemination; Inclusion forming units; Non-obese diabetic mice; Peripheral blood mononuclear cells; Real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction