Establishment of gastric Campylobacter pylori infection in the neonatal gnotobiotic piglet.

Campylobacter pylori, a gram-negative microaerophilic bacterium, has been implicated in the genesis of human gastritis, dyspepsia, and gastroduodenal ulceration. Previous attempts to reproduce the diseases in conventional laboratory animal species have been unsuccessful. To determine if neonatal gnotobiotic piglets were susceptible to C. pylori, we orally challenged two litters (n = 17) with 10(9) CFU after pretreating them with cimetidine. Controls housed in separate units received nothing or peptone water alone. Piglets were examined 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after challenge. Colonization by the bacterium and inflammation of the gastric mucosa persisted throughout the study period. Organisms were revealed by Warthin-Starry silver stain to reside between the mucus layer and the gastric epithelium. Culturing of samples from sites along the gastrointestinal tract revealed that the bacterium colonized essentially only the gastric and proximal duodenal mucosae. Gross pathological changes were restricted to the stomachs of infected piglets and consisted of submucosal edema, increased gastric mucus production, and progressive development of mucosal lymphoid follicles. Microscopic lesions consisted of transient neutrophilic infiltrates followed by diffuse and follicular infiltrations of mononuclear leukocytes into the mucosa and submucosa. Alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff stains suggested that the infection resulted in the depletion of mucopolysaccharide production by deep gastric glands. These data indicate that gnotobiotic piglets reproduce many of the features of diseases associated with C. pylori in humans.