Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Development of fatal colitis in FVB mice infected with Citrobacter rodentium.

Authors: Borenshtein, Diana; Nambiar, Prashant R; Groff, Elizabeth B; Fox, James G; Schauer, David B

Published In Infect Immun, (2007 Jul)

Abstract: Citrobacter rodentium is the causative agent of transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia. The disease is characterized by severe but temporary epithelial hyperplasia with limited inflammation in the descending colon of adult mice on a variety of genetic backgrounds. The natural history of infection with this murine pathogen has been characterized in outbred Swiss Webster (SW) mice but not in the cognate inbred FVB strain. In contrast to subclinical infection in SW mice, 12-week-old FVB mice developed overt disease with significant weight loss and mortality beginning by 9 days postinoculation (dpi). By 21 dpi, more than 75% of infected FVB mice died or had to be euthanized, whereas no mortality developed in SW mice. Mortality in FVB mice was fully prevented by fluid therapy. Fecal shedding of bacteria was similar in both groups through 9 dpi; however, a slight but significant delay in bacterial clearance was observed in FVB mice by 12 to 18 dpi. SW mice developed hyperplasia with minimal inflammation in the descending colon. FVB mice developed epithelial cell hyperproliferation, severe inflammation with erosions and ulcers, and epithelial atypia by 6 dpi in the descending colon. In the majority of surviving FVB mice, colonic lesions, including epithelial atypia, were reversible, although a small percentage (5 to 7%) exhibited chronic colitis through 7 months postinoculation. The existence of susceptible and resistant lines of mice with similar genetic backgrounds will facilitate the identification of host factors responsible for the outcome of infection and may lead to the development of novel strategies for preventing and treating infectious colitis.

PubMed ID: 17470543 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Animals; Animals, Inbred Strains; Animals, Outbred Strains; Citrobacter rodentium/genetics; Citrobacter rodentium/isolation & purification; Citrobacter rodentium/pathogenicity*; Colitis/microbiology; Colitis/mortality*; Colitis/pathology*; Colon/cytology; Colon/microbiology; Colon/pathology; Colony Count, Microbial; Disease Models, Animal*; Epithelial Cells/microbiology; Epithelial Cells/pathology; Female; Humans; Hyperplasia/microbiology; Hyperplasia/pathology; Inflammation; Male; Mice; Mice, Mutant Strains; Species Specificity; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms

Back
to Top