title: Hemagglutinating activity is directly correlated with colonization ability of shigellae in suckling mouse model.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to explore a new approach based on the hemagglutination (HA) assay to understand the colonization ability of  Shigella  spp. To study colonization ability, an animal model of 4-day-old suckling mouse, was exploited. We characterized the HA activity of 48 Shigella strains, with erythrocytes collected from rabbit, guinea pig, chicken, and sheep. Only rabbit and guinea pig erythrocytes showed positive HA reactions in most of the cases. On the basis of HA pattern, 4 strains from each serogroup were selected for in vivo colonization studies. Our results showed a positive correlation between HA activity and colonization ability of the strains belonging to different serogroups (groups A, B, C, and D) of Shigella. In all 4 serogroups, high HA titer was associated with greater intestinal colonization.
authors.affiliation: Division of Bacteriology, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, P-33, C.I.T. Road, Scheme XM, Beliaghata, Kolkata-700010, India.
authors.forename: Soma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.forename: Dhira Rani
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: Swapan Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Niyogi
authors.forename: Utpala
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.forename: Hemanta
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D002645:Chickens; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006384:Hemagglutination / Q000502:physiology*; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D011817:Rabbits; D012756:Sheep; D012760:Shigella / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*