Experimental histoplasmosis in mice treated with anti-murine interferon-gamma antibody and in interferon-gamma gene knockout mice

Histoplasma capsulatum is an important fungal pathogen in immunocompromised hosts, including AIDS patients. Experimental evidence suggests interferon-gamma (IFN) plays a role in host defense against H. capsulatum. In these studies we sought to demonstrate the importance of IFN in innate resistance to systemic histoplasmosis. The possible exacerbation of infection in BALB/c mice was assessed by administering 200 microg of hamster anti-IFN antibody prior to infection with H. capsulatum (2 x 10(6) yeasts, i.v.) and by comparing the severity of infection between BALB/c IFN gene knockout mice (GKO) and congenic control animals. In two separate studies, we found that anti-IFN treatment caused a dramatic loss of resistance to lethal infection and resulted in earlier mortality of IFN-depleted animals compared with normal IgG or no treatment (P<0.001). GKO mice were significantly (P<0.001) more susceptible to lethal infection than were control animals, and histological studies corroborated this. These studies clearly demonstrate that IFN is a vital part of the host's innate resistance to systemic infection with H. capsulatum and provide an additional rationale for studying IFN as an immunomodulatory therapeutic for the treatment of this disease.