A. Dubois et al., SEROEPIZOOTIOLOGY OF HELICOBACTER-PYLORI GASTRIC INFECTION IN NONHUMAN-PRIMATES HOUSED IN SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS, Journal of clinical microbiology, 33(6), 1995, pp. 1492-1495
We determined the seroepizootiology of Helicobacter pylori infection i
n rhesus monkeys. Plasma was obtained from 196 animals (age range, 1 t
o 22 years) that were housed in social environments, either in indoor
gang cages, in outdoor corrals, or in free-ranging forested conditions
. Plasma immunoglobulin G levels were determined with a specific enzym
e-linked immunosorbent assay, and the cutoff immunoglobulin G value fo
r H. pylori seropositivity was determined from a study of 25 monkeys w
hose infection status was assessed by light microscopy and culture. On
e-year-old animals of both genders in all housing conditions had the l
owest rate of positivity (60% in monkeys 1 year old versus 81% in monk
eys 2 to 10 years old, P = 0.026). In addition, females tended to have
higher rates of positivity than males. Seroconversion during a 1-year
observation period occurred in 7 (28%) of 25 seronegative animals, Se
roreversion occurred in 3 (4%) of the 78 positive animals; all 3 of th
ese animals had received antimicrobial agents during the year, These o
bservations demonstrate that the epizootiology of H. pylori infection
in rhesus monkeys may serve as a model for human infection.