PRIMARY CAMPYLOBACTER-JEJUNI INFECTION IN DIFFERENT MICE STRAINS

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most frequent causes of diarrhoea i n man. Extra-intestinal manifestations may also occur, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. However, because of the lack of approp riate animal models the pathophysiology and immunological response of the host to C. jejuni infection are still poorly understood. In our la boratory an experimental infection of adult BALB/c, C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice has been established. After intraperitoneal injection of 0.5-1 x 10(9) cfu of C. jejuni none of the infected mice showed clinical sympt oms of illness, but bacterial spreading and tissue invasion were achie ved. We have concentrated our studies on the duration of primary infec tion, recovery of bacteria from livers and spleens of infected animals and pathohistological changes of these organs. Our results showed dif ferences in the course of systemic infection among the tested mice str ains. BALB/c mice were most sensitive, resulting in the most pronounce d pathohistological changes in the examined organs. The duration of th e primary liver infection was the longest in BALB/c mice while the dur ation of the splenic infection also differed among the tested mice str ains. Nevertheless, the experimental model used in this study can be e fficiently used in further analysis of the pathogenesis of this bacter ial infection. However, the strain differences should be taken into ac count depending on the parameters to be followed. (C) 1998 Academic Pr ess Limited.