Genetic resistance to murine cryptococcosis: the beige mutation (Chédiak-Higashi syndrome) in mice

The influence of the bgJ and bg2J mutations on the susceptibility of mice to experimental cryptococcosis was studied in inbred mice of the C57BL/6J and C3H/HeJ strains. Although infected animals with the bg/bg genotype had a significantly shorter lifespan than bg/+ or +/+ animals, C3H/He beige-2J mice were less susceptible than C57BL/6 beige-J mice when compared with nonbeige mice of similar background. On days 18 and 19 after infection, quantitation of cryptococci in the brain, liver, and spleen revealed that the overall burden of organisms in infected C57BL/6 beige-J mice was in excess of one log unit above that found in the brain, liver, and spleen of infected C57BL/6 +/+ mice. At that time, C57BL/6 beige-J mice showed a 53% increase in mean brain weight, a 67.8% decrease in mean liver weight, and a 58.6% decrease in mean spleen weight, when compared with uninfected animals of the same age and genetical lineage. The corresponding figures for C57BL/6 +/+ mice were a 32% increase in mean brain weight, a 41.4% decrease in mean liver weight, and a 23.4% decrease in mean spleen weight. From these data, it is concluded that the beige mutation in mice is associated with increased susceptibility to cryptococcosis, the accrued susceptibility of the beige mutant is related to more rapid changes in the weight profile of the target organs as well as to a higher rate of growth or decreased clearance of Cryptococcus neoformans or both, and other autosomal genes are likely to be involved in the genetic control of susceptibility to murine cryptococcosis.