title: An experimental Helicobacter suis infection causes gastritis and reduced daily weight gain in pigs.
abstract: Helicobacter suis is a zoonotically important bacterium, that has been associated with gastritis and ulcerative lesions of the pars oesophagea of the stomach in pigs. Its exact role in these pathologies, however, still remains controversial. Therefore, a total of 29 medicated early weaned piglets were inoculated intragastrically or orally, with a total of 2 × 10(9) viable H. suis bacteria and the effect on gastric pathology and weight gain was determined. Twenty-three medicated early weaned piglets were inoculated with a sterile culture medium and used as sham-inoculated controls. The animals were euthanized between 28 and 42 days after inoculation. Infected animals showed a more severe gastritis compared to the control group. There was also a significant reduction of approximately 60 g per day (10%) in weight gain in H. suis inoculated animals compared to the sham-inoculated control animals. In conclusion, this study demonstrates for the first time that a pure in vitro culture of H. suis not only causes gastritis but also a marked decrease of the daily weight gain in experimentally infected pigs.
authors: Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. Eadbruyn.Debruyne@ugent.be
authors: Ellen
authors: E
authors: De Bruyne
authors: Bram
authors: B
authors: Flahou
authors: Koen
authors: K
authors: Chiers
authors: Tom
authors: T
authors: Meyns
authors: Smitha
authors: S
authors: Kumar
authors: Miet
authors: M
authors: Vermoote
authors: Frank
authors: F
authors: Pasmans
authors: Sam
authors: S
authors: Millet
authors: Jeroen
authors: J
authors: Dewulf
authors: Freddy
authors: F
authors: Haesebrouck
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Ducatelle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005756:Gastritis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D018247:Helicobacter heilmannii / Q000502:physiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013270:Stomach / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D014510:Urease / Q000378:metabolism; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D014510:Urease