Murine model of Bacillus cereus gastrointestinal infection

ROLNY, I. S.; MINNAARD, J.; RACEDO, S. M.; PÉREZ, P. F.

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY

SOC GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY

Lugar: London; Año: 2014

0022-2615

Bacillus cereus is a spore-forming microorganism responsible for foodborne illness. In this study we focus on the host response following intragastric challenge with a pathogenic B. cereus strain (B10502), isolated from a foodborne outbreak. C57BL/6J female mice were infected by gavage with strain B10502. Controls were administered with phosphate buffered saline. Infection leads to significant modification in relevant immune cells at spleen, Peyer´s patches and mesenteric lymph nodes. These findings correlated with an increase in the size of Peyer´s patches as compared with uninfected controls. Histological studies showed that B. cereus infection increased the ratio of intestinal goblet cells and induces mononuclear cell infiltrates in spleen at 5 days postinfection. Evaluation of cytokines mRNA expression demonstrated a significant increase in IFN-γ in MLN after two days of infection. The present work demonstrates that infection of mice with vegetative B. cereus is self-limited. Our findings determine relevant cell populations that are involved in the control of the pathogen through modification of the ratio and/or activation.