The lethal action in Balb/c mice of 80 oral Fusobacterium nucleatum recovered from patients with adult periodontitis, healthy subjects or Cebus apella monkeys was studied. Mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with each bacterial inoculum of 5 x 10(8) CFU/ml. All the clinical isolates induced weight and coordinated movements loss. Pathological alterations in liver, CNS, heart, and kidney with inflammatory reactions or vascular congestion were observed. Of all the tested F. nucleatum isolates, 61.2% from periodontal patients, 57.1% from healthy subjects and 60% from monkeys, were capable of killing the mice in 48h. The clinical isolates were significantly more pathogenic than F. nucleatum ATCC 10953 or ATCC 25586. B. fragilis ATCC 23745 showed lethality against control mice. Our results suggest that LPS could be involved in lethal action against mice and it may play an important role in producing tissue damage or death of mice.
Fusobacterium nucleatum; pathogenesis; human and non-human primates
