Gender Is a Major Factor in Determining the Severity of Mycoplasma Respiratory Disease in Mice

Gender is a significant factor in determining the susceptibility to and severity of pulmonary diseases in both humans and animals. Murine respiratory mycoplasmosis (MRM), due to Mycoplasma pulmonis infection, is an excellent animal model for evaluation of the role of various host factors on the development of acute or chronic inflammatory lung diseases. MRM has many similarities to mycoplasma respiratory disease in humans. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether gender has a significant impact on lung disease due to M. pulmonis infection in mice. It was demonstrated that male mice consistently developed more severe disease in the lung parenchyma than did female mice. There was no gender difference in disease severity along the airways or any difference in mycoplasma numbers in lungs of male and female mice. Furthermore, surgical removal of reproductive organs reduced the severity of mycoplasma disease and the numbers of mycoplasma organisms recovered from lungs. Thus, gender plays a significant role in determining the severity of M. pulmonis disease. In fact, the gender of the host was a major factor in determining whether an acute or chronic inflammatory lung disease developed after infection with M. pulmonis.