The Evaluation of Putative Virulence Factors of Helicobacter pylori for Gastroduodenal Disease b Use of a Short-Term Mongolian Gerbil Infection Model

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 185; no. 3; pp. 341 - 347
• Main Authors: Akanuma, Masao, Maeda, Shin, Ogura, Keiji, Mitsuno, Yuzo, Hirata, Yoshihiro, Ikenoue, Tsuneo, Otsuka, Motoyuki, Watanabe, Takeshi, Yamaji, Yutaka, Yoshida, Haruhiko, Kawabe, Takao, Shiratori, Yasushi, Omata, Masao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Chicago Press 01.02.2002
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1573-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/338772

Few virulence determinants of Helicobacter pylori have been tested in vivo. We conducted this study to establish an animal model for their screening. Six-week-old male Mongolian gerbils were inoculated with wild-type H. pylori (TN2) or its isogenic mutant with deletion of cagE (TN2ΔcagE), total cag pathogenicity island (TN2Δcag PAI), HP0499 (TN2ΔHP499), or HP0638 (TN2ΔHP638) (n=5 each). The animals were killed 3 weeks later, and the density of bacteria and the degree of inflammation in the stomach were compared. Infection was established in all animals except those inoculated with TN2ΔHP638. TN2 and TN2ΔHP499, but not TN2ΔcagE and TN2Δcag PAI, induced intense inflammation, although the densities of bacteria were similar. The Mongolian gerbil model was useful for the screening of virulence determinants in vivo, which confirmed the importance of cag PAI while questioning that of HP0499.