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Detection, eradication, and research implications of Helicobacter infections in laboratory rodents

Lab Animal volume 35, pages 25–36 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Researchers first isolated and characterized Helicobacter hepaticus in 1994 as a cause of hepatitis that progressed to hepatocellular carcinoma in A/JCr mice. During the past decade, isolation and characterization of additional novel helicobacters from rodents has continued. In addition to causing overt disease, rodent helicobacter infections are important because intercurrent disease in select models will confound research data. Emerging evidence suggests that inflammatory responses to enterohepatic helicobacter infections may alter host responses to other experimental stimuli in unanticipated ways. Additionally, scientists have experimentally infected a variety of inbred mouse strains and genetically engineered mice with a variety of Helicobacter spp. isolated from rodents, birds, and higher mammals (including humans) to develop animal models of gastrointestinal diseases as well as idiopathic human disease syndromes. This review highlights current information about helicobacter infections in laboratory rodents and provides recommendations for the detection and eradication of these infections. The authors discuss the impact of subclinical and clinical disease and offer recommendations for managing helicobacter-free rodent colonies.

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Acknowledgements

This work received partial support from the ACLAM Foundation (M.T.W., J.G.F.), the Henry and Lois Foster Grant (M.T.W., J.G.F.), RO1 CA 67529, CA 87958, AI37750, AI50952, P01 CA 26731, and RR07036 from the National Institutes of Health (J.G.F.), and grants from Astra, Glaxo, Merck and Pfizer Laboratories (J.G.F.). The authors also gratefully acknowledge the indispensable contributions of colleagues in our laboratories as well as those of our collaborators.

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  1. Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Bldg. 16-825A, Cambridge, 02139, MA

    Mark T. Whary &  James G. Fox

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Correspondence to Mark T. Whary.

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Whary, M., Fox, J. Detection, eradication, and research implications of Helicobacter infections in laboratory rodents. Lab Anim 35, 25–36 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0706-25

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