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J Med Microbiol 57 (2008), 267-272; DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.47317-0
© 2008 Society for General Microbiology
ISSN 1473-5644

Differences in virulence attributes between cytolethal distending toxin positive and negative Campylobacter jejuni strains

Deepika Jain1, Kashi Nath Prasad1, Sushmita Sinha1 and Nuzhat Husain2

1 Department of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226014, India

2 Department of Pathology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow 226001, India

Correspondence
Kashi Nath Prasad
knprasad{at}sgpgi.ac.in

Received 29 March 2007
Accepted 30 November 2007

Campylobacter jejuni is a common gastrointestinal bacterial pathogen. Although cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) is proposed to be an important virulence determinant of this pathogen, how CDT+ and CDT– strains differ in their biological properties remains largely unknown. The virulence properties of CDT+ and CDT– strains were studied on HeLa cells and in the suckling mouse model. Presence of the cdtB gene in Campylobacter species was determined by PCR. Five each of CDT+ and CDT– C. jejuni strains were subjected to adherence, invasion and cytotoxicity assay on the HeLa cell line. Bacterial culture supernatants with and without CDT activity were inoculated intragastrically into 2-day-old suckling mice. The mice were sacrificed within 48 h. Histopathological examination of stomach, jejunum, ileum and colon was performed by haematoxylin/eosin staining. cdtB was detected in 88 % and 14 % of C. jejuni and Campylobacter coli strains, respectively. CDT+ C. jejuni strains adhered to and invaded HeLa cells in significantly higher numbers than CDT– strains [CDT+ vs CDT–, adherence 2.7x104±3.5x104 vs 2.7x102±1.9x102; invasion 1.0x103±1.3x103 vs1.4x101±3.1x101; P<0.01]. Culture supernatants of all CDT+ strains demonstrated CDT activity on HeLa cells. Mice inoculated with supernatant containing CDT activity had moderate to severe pathology in different parts of their gastrointestinal tract, with the colon being the major target. Mice inoculated with supernatant lacking CDT activity showed no significant pathology in the gastrointestinal tract. The results demonstrate that CDT+ C. jejuni strains adhere to and invade epithelial cells more efficiently than CDT– strains. CDT is responsible for intestinal pathology and the colon is the major target.

Abbreviations: CDT, cytolethal distending toxin; CDT–, CDT-negative; CDT+, CDT-positive; FCS, fetal calf serum.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the cdt* primers is DQ882648.






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