Primary biliary cirrhosis in the mouse: induction by human mycoplasma-like organisms.

Human intraocular and orbital chronic inflammatory disease with autoimmune features has been reported to be caused by mycoplasma-like organisms (MLO). MLO are intracellular cell-wall deficient pathogenic bacteria, closely related to rickettsia, with a characteristic ultrastrural pleomorphic tubulo-spherical and filamentous appearance. No culture system has been developed for MLO and diagnosis of MLO disease is made by detecting these bacteria within infected cells using a transmission electron microscope. In human MLO ocular and orbital disease the organisms are found in parasitized leucocytes at the disease site. Inoculation of human MLO into mouse eyelids produces a high incidence of orbital and introcular disease. MLO disseminate to produce randomly distributed lethal systemic disease with infected leucocytes found in all disease sites and with similar histologic features in all disease sites. Microvasculitis is the initial lesion. Disease progression results in lysis of vascular and parenchymal structures, stromal lymphocytic infiltrates, granulomas, and fibrosis. This report describes the hepatic portal chronic progressive inflammatory disease in 11 of 100 of those mice versus 0 in 200 controls. MLO parasitized portal leucocytes are present in all 11 inflamed livers versus 0 in 5 control livers (P less than 0.05). The resemblance of the animal liver disease induced by MLO to human primary biliary cirrhosis and rifampin treatment of MLO disease are discussed.