title: Evaluation of a commercial colorimetric fecal dipstick assay for the detection of Helicobacter hepaticus infections in laboratory mice.
abstract: Mice used in biomedical research typically are tested for the presence of Helicobacter spp., including Helicobacter hepaticus. Here we evaluated the ability of a commercially available colorimetric Helicobacter dipstick assay to detect H. hepaticus in experimentally and naturally infected mice, with use of a Helicobacter PCR assay as the 'gold standard' test. None of the fecal samples from experimentally infected A/JCr mice (n = 12) tested positive for Helicobacter by the colorimetric dipstick test. In naturally infected A/JCr and C57BL/6 mice, 11% (1 of 9) and 30% (3 of 10) of fecal samples, respectively, tested positive for Helicobacter by the colorimetric dipstick assay. In these 3 groups of H. hepaticus-infected mice, statistically fewer mice tested positive by the colorimetric dipstick test than by PCR. The colorimetric Helicobacter dipstick assay had an overall diagnostic sensitivity of 13%, diagnostic specificity of 94%, and analytical sensitivity of 10(8) H. hepaticus cfu/mL. As currently formulated, the colorimetric dipstick assay had high specificity but lacked sensitivity for detecting H. hepaticus infections in 2 strains of mice commonly used in research, thereby limiting its utility as a diagnostic screening test for H. hepaticus infections in research mice.
authors.affiliation: University of Missouri, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Julie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Freebersyser
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.forename: Lela K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: Matthew H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Myles
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Livingston
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003124:Colorimetry; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D016998:Helicobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity