From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2005-06-20 17:09:58 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] H. pylori in ferrets?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <8182654.1119287398153.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Author wrote:
> I found plenty where they mentioned using ferrets and H. mustelae as a model for H. pylori infections, but nothing about ferrets having H. pylori... except for the brief mention that humans can get ferrets sick with H. pylori in one of articles Sukie found.
> Mike
Exactly.
Here is a a reply from Dr. Bruce Williams:
START QUOTE
Sukie - to my knowledge, ferrets are resistant to H. pylori - H.
mustelae is a species adapted strain, as are may of the other species,
like acinonyx in cheetahs, and muris in mice.
Most ferret work done by Fox has been on mustelae, and the results
extrapolated to pylori. Note the abstract below which says that orally
challenged ferrets could not be infected with H. pylori.
>Rev Infect Dis. 1991 Jul-Aug;13 Suppl 8:S671-80. Related Articles, Links
>Gastric colonization of the ferret with Helicobacter species: natural
>and experimental infections.
>Fox JG, Otto G, Murphy JC, Taylor NS, Lee A.
>Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
>Cambridge 02139.
>Helicobacter mustelae, isolated from the stomachs of adult ferrets,
>appears to have a world-wide distribution. Ferrets are colonized with H.
>mustelae at a young age, usually 5-6 weeks; in our experience 100% of
>adult ferrets are colonized in both the antrum and the fundus. Gastric
>infection correlates with elevation of serum IgG antibodies to H.
>mustelae. In the oxyntic mucosa the presence of superficial gastritis
>coincides closely with the presence of H. mustelae. In the distal antrum
>the organism is associated with chronic inflammation occupying the full
>thickness of the mucosa. In addition to lesions seen in the distal
>antrum, focal glandular atrophy and regeneration are noted in the
>proximal antrum and transitional mucosa. Antibiotics used to eradicate
>Helicobacter pylori in humans are also effective in eliminating H.
>mustelae from ferrets. H. mustelae-free ferrets do not become colonized
>with H. pylori when challenged orally; however, sparse colonization
>follows oral inoculation with a related gastric organism, "Helicobacter
>felis." Controlled studies of the pathophysiology of gastroduodenal
>disease induced by Helicobacter species can be performed in H.
>mustelae-infected ferrets and their H. mustelae-negative counterparts.
END QUOTE