Rat strains differ in susceptibility to maternal and fetal infection with Mycoplasma pulmonis.

Problem: Vaginally infected Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats are more susceptible to adverse pregnancy outcomes than Wistar (WIS) rats. We postulated that SD rats have enhanced hematogenous spread of Mycoplasma pulmonis to fetal tissues.

Method Of Study: WIS and SD dams were infected intravenously with 10(7), 10(6), and 10(5) colony-forming units of M.