Work

An Oral Inoculation Infant Rabbit Model for Shigella Infection

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Shigella species are the leading bacterial cause of diarrheal death globally. The pathogen causes bacillary dysentery, a bloody diarrheal disease characterized by damage to the colonic mucosa and is usually spread through the fecal-oral route. Small animal models of shigellosis that rely on the oral route of infection are lacking. Here, we found that orogastric inoculation of infant rabbits with S. flexneri led to a diarrheal disease and colonic pathology reminiscent of human shigellosis. Diarrhea, intestinal colonization, and pathology in this model were dependent on the S. flexneri type III secretion system and IcsA, canonical Shigella virulence factors. Thus, oral infection of infant rabbits offers a feasible model to study the pathogenesis of shigellosis and to develop and test new therapeutics.

Source: mBio

DOI: 10.1128/mbio.03105-19

Authors: Carole J. Kuehl, Jonathan D. D’Gama, Alyson R. Warr, Matthew K. Waldor

Institutions: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Language: English

Topic: Escherichia coli research studies

Subfield: Microbiology

Field: Immunology and Microbiology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,900