Decostere, A.

Samples from the antrum and fundus of the stomachs of 457 pigs from 22 different herds were screened for the presence of ‘ Candidatus Helicobacter suis’ by pcr , and samples from the antrum and/or fundus of 222 of the stomachs were tested for urease activity. The prevalence of the infection was very low before weaning, increased rapidly after weaning and reached 90 per cent in the adult boars and sows. The agreement between the results obtained with the pcr test and the urease test was very good for some age groups and sampling sites, but poor for other age groups and sampling sites.

ABSTRACT “ Helicobacter heilmannii ” (proposed name) type 1 colonizes the human stomach. It has been shown to be identical to“ Candidatus Helicobacter suis,” a Helicobacter species colonizing the stomachs of >60% of slaughter pigs. This bacterium has not been isolated in vitro until now. Antibiotic susceptibility testing of “ Candidatus Helicobacter suis” has not been carried out so far. For the present study, a mouse model was adopted to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility of this organism. Mice infected with“ Candidatus Helicobacter suis” were treated with amoxicillin and omeprazole, a therapy which is used to treat H. heilmannii infections in humans. Two different isolates of“ Candidatus Helicobacter suis” were tested. The excretion of bacterial DNA was assessed during treatment, using PCR on fecal samples. At the end of the experiment, 8 days after the cessation of treatment, the presence of infection was evaluated using a urease test and a PCR test on stomach samples. A marked decrease in the excretion of bacterial DNA was observed a few days after the onset of treatment, and the level remained low until the end of the experiment. A difference in susceptibility between the two“ Candidatus Helicobacter suis” isolates was pointed out. The in vivo mouse model infected with“ Candidatus Helicobacter suis” will be useful for further screening of potential therapeutic regimens.