[EXPERIMENTAL TUBERCULOSIS CAUSED BY M. TUBERCULOSIS STRAINS OF GENOTYPICAL W, AI, AND HD CLUSTERS].

The pathomorphology of experimental tuberculosis caused by the laboratory strains H37Rv and H37Ra and clinical M. tuberculosis (MTB) strains of W, AI, and HD clusters intravenously injected in C57BL/6 mice in a dose of 4x105 CFU per mouse was investigated over time. The pathological process was studied in infected animals from histotopographic changes and morphological reactions in the lung, spleen, and liver. The strains were shown to have varying virulence and, according to a set of pathomorphological signs, could be divided into 4 groups: 1) regression of a tuberculous process; 2) its stabilization; 3) its progression, and 4) its acute course. The study revealed strain polymorphism in the development of the tuberculous process that was unassociated with the cluster affiliation of MTB strains from the IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism. The results obtained in the experiment on the W-, AT-, and HD-clusters strains sensitive to antituberculous drugs failed to support the conclusion that the W-cluster strains had a particular virulence.