title: Long-term colonization levels of Helicobacter hepaticus in the cecum of hepatitis-prone A/JCr mice are significantly lower than those in hepatitis-resistant C57BL/6 mice.
abstract: Helicobacter hepaticus infection causes hepatitis in A/JCr mice but mild or no disease in C57BL/6 mice. Colonization of H. hepaticus in the cecum of experimentally infected A/JCr and C57BL/6 mice was quantified by use of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis with primers for the H. hepaticus cdtB gene and mouse 18srRNA. Eight-week-old mice were experimentally (n = 48) or sham (n = 24) infected with H. hepaticus, then were necropsied 6 months after infection. Liver specimens from experimentally infected mice had negative results of PCR analysis for H. hepaticus; thus, real-time quantification was not attempted. Quantitative PCR analysis of H. hepaticus in cecal specimens indicated that C57BL/6 mice were colonized to a greater extent than were A/JCr mice (P < 0.006). Appreciable typhlitis was not observed, but was consistent with that of previous reports; A/JCr mice developed more severe parenchymal necrosis, portal inflammation, and phlebitis in the liver (P < 0.0001), with mild disease observed in infected C57BL/6 mice. Thus, hepatitis in A/JCr mice caused by H. hepaticus infection is associated with significantly lower colonization levels of H. hepaticus in the cecum, compared with those of hepatitis-resistant C57BL/6 mice. Host responses of A/JCr mice that limit cecal colonization with H. hepaticus may have important roles in the pathogenesis of hepatic lesions.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Whary
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cline
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sheppard
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Fox
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002432:Cecum / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D016998:Helicobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D006520:Hepatitis, Animal / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008805:Mice, Inbred A; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013045:Species Specificity