In Search of Animal Models for Campylobacter pylori Induced Disease

Abstract

One of Koch’s postulates indicating the pathogenicity of a given microorganism is that the microorganism be cultivable outside the host and that it elicits, in other animal species, symptoms similar to those elicited in the originally infected host. In addition, for microorganisms of pathogenetic relevance to humans it is important to establish an animal model as simple as possible in order to study mechanisms and assess the efficacy of therapeutic agents. Mice and rats are particularly well suited as experimental animals since there is available a considerable amount of information on genetics, immunology, and pathogenesis of their infections. For these reasons, we have tried to establish a rodent experimental model of Campylobacter pylori infection using various mouse strains and one rat strain.