KINETICS OF SERUM AND OCULAR ANTIBODY-RESPONSES IN SUSCEPTIBLE MICE THAT RECEIVED A SECONDARY CORNEAL INFECTION WITH PSEUDOMONAS-AERUGINOSA

When susceptible C57BL/6J mice were infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in one eye and then reinfected in the previously uninfected contralateral control eye either 4 or 8 weeks after the primary infection, approximately 20 to 30% of the mice receiving a 4-week reinfection regimen restored corneal clarity within 4 weeks, while almost all of the 8-week-reinfected mice restored corneal clarity within 3 to 6 days postinfection. However, the rate of bacterial clearance was the same in both sets of mice despite the presence of opsonophagocytic antibodies only in the 8-week-reinfected mice. As determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunoglobulin G was the major immunoglobulin in both serum and ocular tissue of both mouse sets, and the immunoglobulin G level was two- to fourfold higher after the 8-week secondary infection than in the 4-week-reinfected mice.