Dissemination profile of <i>N</i>. <i>meningitidis</i> infection in the transgenic human transferrin mouse model.

<p>Mice (at least 5 per group) were infected intraperitoneally with standardized inocula of bacteria and analyzed for bioluminescence at the indicated times. (A) Dorsal view of mice infected with MC58, Δ<i>ptsH</i>, and Δ<i>ptsH</i>-C_RBS strains at 2, 6, 8 and 24 h post-challenge. Images are of one mouse, representative of the group, and depict photographs overlaid with color representations of luminescence intensity, measured in total photons/sec and indicated on the scales, where red represents most intense and blue least intense luminescence. (B) Total body luminescence quantification. The total luminescence was quantified for each individual mouse using a region of interest corresponding to the whole mouse. Data from all mice for each strain at each time point were expressed as mean values ± SEM. The mean values and SEM of each strain were calculated from the results obtained with at least 5 infected mice.