DEVELOPMENT OF A GERM-FREE MOUSE MODEL OF VIBRIO-CHOLERAE INFECTION

A mouse model of Vibrio cholerae infection was successfully developed with germfree mice. Three- to four-week-old germfree mice were orally inoculated with strains of V. cholerae to be tested and then moved to normal housing after inoculation, Stool culture, measurement of serum vibriocidal antibody titers, and determination of immune responses to the cholera toxin B subunit demonstrated that germfree mice are readil y colonized by V. cholerae and develop systemic and mucosal immune res ponses to antigens expressed by these organisms, Immune responses to t he B subunit of Shiga toxin 1, which was expressed from a V. cholerae vaccine vector, were less pronounced, This model should be valuable fo r studying immune responses to V. cholerae infection and immunization, including responses to heterologous antigens expressed by cholera vec tor strains.