Resistance to listeriosis in mice that are deficient in the fifth component of complement

Infection with Listeria monocytogenes was studied in strains of mice with genetic absence of the fifth component of complement (C5). Mice deficient in C5 consistently showed an increased growth of Listeria in their spleens as compared to normal mice. This increased growth was not corrected by administration of plasma containing C5. Furthermore, depletion of C5 and terminal complement components by administration of cobra venom factor did not impair the resistance to Listeria infection of normal mice. No phagocytic defect could be detected in macrophages from strains lacking C5. Transfer of bone marrow cells from C5+ but not from C5- mice corrected the marked increase of Listeria growth in mice having blockade of the reticuloendothelial system. We hypothesize that the defect of mice lacking C5 lies not in the absence of serum C5 but somewhere at the level of the macrophage.