Autor(es):
Guimarães, N.
; Azevedo, N. F.
; Vieira, M. J.
; Figueiredo, C.
Data: 2008
Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/26099
Origem: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Descrição
Helicobacter pylori transmission has been associated in
epidemiological studies with water. H. pylori has been identified in
this environment using molecular techniques. As water may be
an environmental reservoir for H. pylori, and because there is lack
of information regarding the capacity of water-exposed bacteria to
induce a response in host cells, we assessed the cultivability of water-exposed H. pylori and determined whether these bacteria
retain the ability to adhere to and to induce inflammation.
We used H. pylori strain 26,695 and AGS cell line. Bacteria were
grown in TSA with 5% sheep blood and incubated for 48 hours
at 37 °C under a microaerophilic atmosphere. After that, H. pylori
was exposed to water at 25 °C, in aerobic conditions for different
time periods. H. pylori cultivability was determined by standard
plating methods. Adhesion to and Interleukin-8 production by
AGS cells were assessed by ELISA, using an anti-H. pylori antibody
and a commercially available kit, respectively.
Our results showed that, after 24 hours water exposure, H. pylori
was no longer cultivable. Water exposure of H. pylori led to a
significant decrease of its ability to adhere to AGS cells. Also, significantly
lower IL-8 secretion was observed in AGS cells cultured
with water-exposed H. pylori than with unexposed bacteria.
Altogether, these results suggest that after being exposed to
water, planktonic H. pylori presents decreased virulence properties.
As such, additional mechanisms of protection in water, such as
inclusion in biofilms, might be needed for the maintenance of the
infectious ability by this bacterium.