title: Presence and significance of Helicobacter spp. in the gastric mucosa of Portuguese dogs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-Helicobacter pylori Helicobacters (NHPH) are also able to cause disease in humans. Dogs are a natural reservoir for many of these species. Close and intense human contact with animals has been identified as a risk factor and therefore, an important zoonotic significance has been attributed to NHPH.
  
  
  METHODS
  To determine the prevalence of Helicobacter species and the gastric histopathological changes associated, gastric mucosa samples of 69 dogs were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only one dog presented a normal histopathological mucosa with absence of spiral-shaped organisms. A normal gastric mucosa and the presence of spiral-shaped bacteria was observed in two dogs. All remaining animals presented histopathological changes representative of gastritis. Helicobacter species were detected in 60 dogs (87.0%) by at least one detection method. Histological, histochemical and immunohistochemical evaluations revealed that Helicobacter spp. were present in 45 (65.2%), 52 (75.4%) and 57 (82.6%) dogs, respectively. Spiral-shaped bacteria were detected by qPCR analysis in 33 (47.8%) dogs. H. heilmannii-like organisms were identified in 22 animals (66.7%) and predominantly in the antral gastric region. H. salomonis was the second most prevalent species (51.5%) although it was mainly found in association with other Helicobacter spp. and in the body gastric region. H. bizzozeronii and H. felis were less frequently detected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was concluded that, despite the high incidence and worldwide distribution of gastric NHPH in dogs, the presence of specific Helicobacter species may vary between geographic regions. NHPH infections were significantly accompanied by mild to moderate intraepithelial lymphocyte infiltration and mild to moderate gastric epithelial injury, but a clear relationship between gastritis and Helicobacter infection could not be established.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal ; IPATIMUP - Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal ; Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nr.228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Amorim
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, Merelbeke, B-9820 Belgium.
authors.forename: Annemieke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smet
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nr.228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Odete
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nr.228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nr.228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal ; CECAV, Centro de Ciência Animal e Veterinária, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Laura
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Saraiva
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taulescu
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal ; IPATIMUP - Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal ; Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nr.228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Celso
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, Merelbeke, B-9820 Belgium.
authors.forename: Freddy
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haesebrouck
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal ; IPATIMUP - Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal ; Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nr.228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Fátima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gärtner
keywords: Canine gastric mucosa; Dogs; Histochemistry; Immunohistochemistry (IHC); Non-Helicobacter pylori helicobacters (NHPH); Polymerase chain reaction (PCR); Stomach