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2002
LSU-HHMI Summer Undergraduate Research Program |
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 Hina
N. Dave (David G. Baker, Dept. of Laboratory Animal Medicine,
LSU School of Veterinary Medicine) Comparison of
fecal, liver, and cecal PCR assay for diagnosis of Helicobacter
hepaticus infection in mice
Helicobacter hepaticus infection is of concern to those conducting
scientific research on mice. We sought to determine the optimal
diagnostic approach to detecting infection in C57Bl/6 mice.
In our study, 280 C57Bl/6 mice were divided into fourteen groups
of 20. Each group was exposed to H. hepaticus from their parents,
and then fostered to Helicobacter free dams on post-natal days
one through fourteen. The mice were killed at 42 days of age.
At time of euthanasia, fecal, liver, and cecum samples were
collected from each mouse. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay
of all the samples was performed. Although fecal PCR is a widely
used method of determining the presence of Helicobacter, it
was not as reliable for detecting infection. The percentage
of positive liver samples was very low, thus indicating that
H. hepaticus seldom colonizes the liver of C57Bl/6 mice. Overall,
cecal PCR detected more infections than both liver and fecal
PCR and thus appeared to be more sensitive method of detection.
It was concluded that cecal PCR is the most reliable method
for detecting H. hepaticus infection in C57Bl/6 mice.
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