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The local immune response of mice after Helicobacter suis infection: strain differences and distinction with Helicobacter pylori - PubMed

  • ️Sun Jan 01 2012

Comparative Study

The local immune response of mice after Helicobacter suis infection: strain differences and distinction with Helicobacter pylori

Bram Flahou et al. Vet Res. 2012.

Abstract

Helicobacter (H.) suis colonizes the stomach of pigs and is the most prevalent gastric non-H. pylori Helicobacter species in humans. Limited information is available on host immune responses after infection with this agent and it is unknown if variation in virulence exists between different H. suis strains. Therefore, BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were used to compare colonization ability and gene expression of various inflammatory cytokines, as determined by real-time PCR, after experimental infection with 9 different H. suis strains. All strains were able to persist in the stomach of mice, but the number of colonizing bacteria at 59 days post inoculation was higher in stomachs of C57BL/6 mice compared to BALB/c mice. All H. suis strains caused an upregulation of interleukin (IL)-17, which was more pronounced in BALB/c mice. This upregulation was inversely correlated with the number of colonizing bacteria. Most strains also caused an upregulation of regulatory IL-10, positively correlating with colonization in BALB/c mice. Only in C57BL/6 mice, upregulation of IL-1β was observed. Increased levels of IFN-γ mRNA were never detected, whereas most H. suis strains caused an upregulation of the Th2 signature cytokine IL-4, mainly in BALB/c mice. In conclusion, the genetic background of the murine strain has a clear impact on the colonization ability of different H. suis strains and the immune response they evoke. A predominant Th17 response was observed, accompanied by a mild Th2 response, which is different from the Th17/Th1 response evoked by H. pylori infection.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

Number of colonizing H. suis bacteria. Shown is the average number of H. suis bacteria/milligram tissue in the stomach of BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice 59 days after experimental infection.

Figure 2
Figure 2

General cytokine expression profile after experimental H. suis infection in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Shown are the mean fold changes in mRNA expression of indicated cytokines in H. suis-infected BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. The mean fold change in the relevant uninfected control groups is equal to 1. An * indicates a statistically significant difference compared to uninfected control mice (p < 0.05).

Figure 3
Figure 3

Cytokine expression profiles for each group of animals infected with H. suis strains HS1-9 and H. pylori strains SS1 or pMSS1. Shown are the mean fold changes of mRNA expression in HS1-HS9- and SS1- or pMSS1-infected BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice for IL-1β (A), IL-4 (B), IL-6 (C), IL-10 (D) and IL-17 (E). The mean fold change in the relevant uninfected control groups is equal to 1. An * indicates a significant upregulation of mRNA expression compared to uninfected control mice (p < 0.05). An ** indicates a significant upregulation of mRNA expression compared to uninfected control mice (p < 0.0056, i.e. the new cut-off p value obtained after Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons).

Figure 4
Figure 4

Correlation between cytokine expression and H. suis colonization. Shown are the correlation analyses between IL-6 (A), IL-17 (B), MIP-2 (C), IL-1β (D) and IL-10 (E) mRNA expression levels and the number of colonizing H. suis bacteria in stomachs of indicated mouse strains (BALB/c and C57BL/6). Correlation was measured by Spearman’s Rho (ρ).

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