Lack of response of INT-407 cells to the presence of non-culturable Campylobacter jejuni.
Many contradictory articles on the infectivity of non-culturable Campylobacter jejuni can be found. We studied the effect of non-culturable C. jejuni in an in vitro assay. To prevent the potential effect of a few culturable bacteria in the non-culturable suspension, INT-407 cells, which mimic the outer cell layer in the small intestines, were exposed to culturable C. jejuni suspensions with or without non-culturable C. jejuni. The number of bacteria adhering to and/or invading INT-407 cells and the IL-8 secretion were measured. No differences were found between bacterial suspensions with or without non-culturable C. jejuni added. These findings show that non-culturable C. jejuni do not adhere to or invade INT-407 cells and do not induce an immune response. As previous studies showed a correlation between the used in vitro assays and the effect in vivo, our study strongly suggests that culturability is a good indicator of the risk for C. jejuni infection.
Verhoeff-Bakkenes
L
L
Microbiological Laboratory for Health Protection, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Hazeleger
W C
WC
Zwietering
M H
MH
De Jonge
R
R
D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000254:growth & development*; D002460:Cell Line; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000382:microbiology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000378:metabolism
D016209:Interleukin-8