Dw. Metzger et al., PROTECTION OF MICE FROM GROUP-A STREPTOCOCCAL SKIN INFECTION BY INTERLEUKIN-12, The Journal of infectious diseases, 171(6), 1995, pp. 1643-1645
It has been shown that interleukin (IL)-12 induces cell-mediated immun
ity and provides significant protection against intracellular organism
s, The ability of this cytokine to enhance immunity in a mouse model o
f group A streptococcal skin infection was studied. Outbred CD1 mice w
ere injected for 3 consecutive days with 0.1 mu g of recombinant murin
e IL-12 before or after challenge with strain 64/14 group A streptococ
ci. In both cases, in vivo IL-12 treatment significantly decreased the
rate of death after infection and increased survival over the period
of experimental observation, Thus, IL-12 may be useful for treatment o
f gram-positive bacterial infections. The time course of the experimen
ts suggests that IL-12 is acting in this model system to enhance natur
al, rather than acquired, immunity.