Quantitative analysis of Helicobacter pylori infection in a mouse model

Progress in elucidating the pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori gastric inf ection and in developing an H. pylori vaccine will be aided by an animal mo del in which H. pylori can be reliably detected. To validate the use of the mouse model of H. pylori infection, we determined the susceptibility of th ree inbred strains of mice (C57BL/6J, C57BL/10J and BALB/c) to two VacA+/Ca gA+ isolates of H. pylori (SPM326 and M1.16) and determined the effectivene ss of microbiological, histological and molecular assays for H. pylori dete ction. For the detection of H. pylori in inoculated mice, reverse transcrip tase-polymerase chain reaction was the most sensitive assay (82%), histolog ical evaluation the next most sensitive (66%) and microbiological evaluatio n the least sensitive (38%); the assays were equally specific (100%). Of th e two H. pylori isolates, M1.16 showed the highest rate of colonization, bu t SPM326 displayed the highest rate of persistent infection. Among the thre e mouse strains, C57BL/6J mice showed the highest level of both susceptibil ity to colonization and persistent infection. Anti-H. pylori antibody respo nses were induced in all inoculated mice and persisted for up to 8 weeks af ter H. pylori clearance. These results indicate that inbred mice experiment ally infected with H. pylori is a reliable model for human infection, but h ost susceptibility to colonization and persistence of infection are depende nt on the H. pylori isolate and the mouse strain. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.