Experimental infection in mice with Erwinia persicina

Walaa I Mohamaden; Zhang Zhen-Fen; Ibrahim M Hegab; Shi Shang-Li

doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2019.01.050

Experimental infection in mice with Erwinia persicina

Microb Pathog. 2019 May:130:38-43. doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2019.01.050. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Authors

Walaa I Mohamaden¹, Zhang Zhen-Fen², Ibrahim M Hegab³, Shi Shang-Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Grassland Sciences, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Sino-U.S. Centres for Grazing Land Ecosystem, China; Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt.
² College of Grassland Sciences, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Sino-U.S. Centres for Grazing Land Ecosystem, China. Electronic address: zhangzf@gsau.edu.cn.
³ College of Grassland Sciences, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Sino-U.S. Centres for Grazing Land Ecosystem, China; Department of Hygiene, Zoonosis and Animal Behaviour and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt.
⁴ College of Grassland Sciences, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Sino-U.S. Centres for Grazing Land Ecosystem, China. Electronic address: shishl@gsau.edu.cn.

PMID: 30826431
DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2019.01.050

Abstract

Erwinia persicinus (E. persicina) is a plant pathogenic bacterial species that was previously isolated from a case of human infection. This study aimed to create an experimental infection protocol for E. persicina in laboratory mice. Seventy-two adult mice were divided into four groups (18 animal/group): the control group (G1), the group infected with E. persicina (G2), the group immune-suppressed with cyclophosphamide (G3) and the group immune-suppressed with cyclophosphamide and infected with E. persicina (G4). G2 and G4 were injected with 200 μL of (1 × 10¹³ cfu/ml) concentration intraperitoneally. Clinical signs, such as diarrhoea, apathy and mortality were observed only in G2 and G4 animals. E. persicina was not detected in blood. Necropsies of the G2 and G4 animals showed lesions in the intestine, liver, kidney and lung tissue. These lesions were characterized by infiltration of inflammatory cells, hyperaemia and focal areas of tissue necrosis in the liver. The results of the pro-inflammatory cytokines analysis revealed a significant increase in the levels of TNF-α and IL1-β in the liver tissue of the G4 group. E. persicina is an emerging bacterium that can cause pathological lesions into mammalian tissue, which warrants further investigation.

Keywords: Clinical signs; Erwinia persicina; Histopathology; IL1-β; Mice; TNF-α.

MeSH terms

Animal Structures / microbiology
Animal Structures / pathology
Animals
Disease Models, Animal*
Enterobacteriaceae Infections / microbiology*
Enterobacteriaceae Infections / pathology*
Erwinia / growth & development*
Inflammation / pathology
Mice
Necrosis / pathology