Natural and experimental Helicobacter pullorum infection in Brown Norway rats

Abstract

Helicobacter pullorum is an enterohepatic Helicobacter species (EHS) that was recently reported as a naturally acquired infection in mice. Faecal samples from 18 out of 20 Brown Norway (BN) rats, housed in the same barrier as the H. pullorum-infected mice, were positive for H. pullorum using species-specific PCR. In addition, we determined whether H. pullorum was able to persistently colonize the gastrointestinal tract and/or biliary tree and elicit tissue inflammation as well as a serum IgG response in BN rats. Six (four male, two female) 6-week-old, H. pullorumnegative BN rats were orally dosed with 4¾10 8 c.f.u. of H. pullorum every other day for a total of three doses. At 2 weeks post-infection, all rats were H. pullorum-positive by faecal PCR. Five out of the six BN rats remained H. pullorum-positive for the entire 30 week study. PCR analysis of tissue collected at necropsy confirmed that the colon and caecum were the primary sites of H. pullorum colonization. Rats that were persistently colonized by H. pullorum had a sustained H. pullorum-specific IgG response measured by ELISA. Intestinal or hepatic pathology associated with H. pullorum infection was not noted. To our knowledge, this is the first report documenting that rats can be persistently colonized with an EHS that also infects humans.

Helicobacter pullorum: An Emerging Zoonotic Pathogen

“…The infection has been linked to vibrionic hepatitis lesions in chickens (Burnens et al, 1994) and diarrhea in humans (Ceelen et al, 2005a). Meanwhile, natural infection of H. pullorum strains in rats and rabbits has also been reported (Van den Bulck et al, 2006; Cacioppo et al, 2012). H. pullorum prevalence reports from various regions have been summarized in Table 1.…”

Non-jejuni/coli Campylobacter Species and Related Organisms in Poultry, and Their Relevance in Human and Animal Disease

“…Immunohistochemical examination revealed that the bacterium was closely associated with cecal epithelial cells. Cacioppo et al (2012) observed that Brown Norway rats were persistently colonized by H. pullorum and had a sustained H. pullorum-specific IgG response measured by ELISA. Cacioppo et al (2012) did not find intestinal or hepatic pathology associated with H. pullorum.…”

“…Cacioppo et al (2012) observed that Brown Norway rats were persistently colonized by H. pullorum and had a sustained H. pullorum-specific IgG response measured by ELISA. Cacioppo et al (2012) did not find intestinal or hepatic pathology associated with H. pullorum. Ceelen et al (2006) examined 10 poultry and three human isolates of H. pullorum for the presence and activity of CDT.…”

Biology and Diseases of Rats

“…have been found as natural infections of rats. Persistent infection of Brown Norway rats was also established by oral inoculation (Cacioppo et al, 2012b). H. trogontum has now been identified as LABORATORY ANIMAL MEDICINE the most prevalent of the naturally occurring intestinal helicobacters (Mendes et al, 1996) in rats, and H. bilis has been reported from the large bowel of immunodeficient rats (Haines et al, 1998).…”