Apoptosis of lymphocytes in mice administered lipopolysaccharide from Leptospira interrogans

We report that administration of leptospiral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mice results in massive surface marker changes in the lymphocytes of the spleen. It appears that many of these changes relate to the large number of cells undergoing apoptosis. It is also shown that tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) induces similar effects and is produced in large quantities after injection of leptospiral LPS. It is likely that cytokines such as TNF-alpha are involved in apoptosis.