title: Ferrets as a model system for renal disease secondary to intestinal infection with Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
abstract: Ferrets were evaluated as a possible small animal model for the development of colitis and/or signs of the hemolytic uremic syndrome after oral infection with Escherichia coli O157:H7 or other Shiga toxin--producing E. coli (STEC). Ferrets treated with streptomycin (Stm) had higher counts of E. coli O157:H7 strain 86-24 Stm-resistant (Stm(r)) or O91:H21 strain B2F1 Stm(r) in their stools than non--Stm-treated animals. None of the animals displayed evidence of colitis, but Stm-treated animals fed strain 86-24 Stm(r) exhibited weight loss significantly greater than that exhibited by ferrets fed an isogenic mutant negative for the adhesin intimin. Moreover, 11 (23%) of the 47 Stm-treated ferrets inoculated with 86-24 Stm(r) or B2F1 Stm(r) developed hematuria and/or histological damage to glomeruli or thrombocytopenia, compared with 0 of 14 uninfected control animals receiving Stm in water. Thus, the ferret may serve as a model for renal disease secondary to intestinal infection with STEC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4799, USA.
authors.forename: Jon B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.forename: Clare K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.forename: Stephen C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Darnell
authors.forename: Karen C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Meysick
authors.forename: Alison D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005289:Ferrets; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D007422:Intestines / Q000473:pathology; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D022621:Shiga Toxin / Q000633:toxicity*; D013307:Streptomycin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C073819:eaeA protein, E coli; D022621:Shiga Toxin; D013307:Streptomycin