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. 2015 Apr 16:7:12.
doi: 10.1186/s13099-015-0057-1. eCollection 2015.

Presence and significance of Helicobacter spp. in the gastric mucosa of Portuguese dogs

Irina Amorim  1 , Annemieke Smet  2 , Odete Alves  3 , Silvia Teixeira  3 , Ana Laura Saraiva  4 , Marian Taulescu  5 , Celso Reis  6 , Freddy Haesebrouck  2 , Fátima Gärtner  1
Affiliations

Presence and significance of Helicobacter spp. in the gastric mucosa of Portuguese dogs

Irina Amorim et al. Gut Pathog. .

Abstract

Background: Non-Helicobacter pylori Helicobacters (NHPH) are also able to cause disease in humans. Dogs are a natural reservoir for many of these species. Close and intense human contact with animals has been identified as a risk factor and therefore, an important zoonotic significance has been attributed to NHPH.

Methods: To determine the prevalence of Helicobacter species and the gastric histopathological changes associated, gastric mucosa samples of 69 dogs were evaluated.

Results: Only one dog presented a normal histopathological mucosa with absence of spiral-shaped organisms. A normal gastric mucosa and the presence of spiral-shaped bacteria was observed in two dogs. All remaining animals presented histopathological changes representative of gastritis. Helicobacter species were detected in 60 dogs (87.0%) by at least one detection method. Histological, histochemical and immunohistochemical evaluations revealed that Helicobacter spp. were present in 45 (65.2%), 52 (75.4%) and 57 (82.6%) dogs, respectively. Spiral-shaped bacteria were detected by qPCR analysis in 33 (47.8%) dogs. H. heilmannii-like organisms were identified in 22 animals (66.7%) and predominantly in the antral gastric region. H. salomonis was the second most prevalent species (51.5%) although it was mainly found in association with other Helicobacter spp. and in the body gastric region. H. bizzozeronii and H. felis were less frequently detected.

Conclusions: It was concluded that, despite the high incidence and worldwide distribution of gastric NHPH in dogs, the presence of specific Helicobacter species may vary between geographic regions. NHPH infections were significantly accompanied by mild to moderate intraepithelial lymphocyte infiltration and mild to moderate gastric epithelial injury, but a clear relationship between gastritis and Helicobacter infection could not be established.

Keywords: Canine gastric mucosa; Dogs; Histochemistry; Immunohistochemistry (IHC); Non-Helicobacter pylori helicobacters (NHPH); Polymerase chain reaction (PCR); Stomach.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Helicobacter spp. in canine stomach. A) Numerous spiral-shaped bacteria colonizing the surface epithelium of the gastric pit. HE. Bar = 10 μm; B) Note the intraepithelial lymphocyte infiltration within the deeper gastric glands in the antral mucosa of a NHPH-positive dog. HE. Bar = 20 μm. C) Presence of NHPH inside the parietal cells of the canine gastric body region (black arrow). MG. Bar = 10 μm; D) Large amounts of Helicobacter antigen within the superficial gastric mucus and in the lumen of gastric glands in the body region of canine stomach. Immunoperoxidase-diaminobenzidine stain with Mayer’s haematoxylin counterstain. Bar = 50 μm. Inset shows Helicobacter antigen within parietal cells, sometimes detectable as well preserved spiral-shaped organisms or brown round dots. Immunoperoxidase-diaminobenzidine stain with Mayer’s haematoxylin counterstain. Bar = 10 μm.
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