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Review
. 2018 Oct 31:9:2593.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02593. eCollection 2018.

A Neglected Animal Model for a Neglected Disease: Guinea Pigs and the Search for an Improved Animal Model for Human Brucellosis

Martha E Hensel  1 , Angela M Arenas-Gamboa  1
Affiliations
Review

A Neglected Animal Model for a Neglected Disease: Guinea Pigs and the Search for an Improved Animal Model for Human Brucellosis

Martha E Hensel et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease caused by species of the Brucella genus and affects a wide variety of domestic and wildlife species and is also an important zoonosis. The global burden of disease is difficult to assess but Brucella spp. have a worldwide distribution and are endemic in the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Asia. The clinical signs of fever and malaise are non-specific, and the available serological diagnostic tests lack a high degree specificity in endemic regions compared to other important public health diseases such as malaria. A better understanding of the pathogenesis of brucellosis through discoveries in animal models could lead to improved diagnostics and potentially a vaccine for human use. Mouse models have played an important role in elucidating the pathogenesis but do not replicate key features of the disease such as fever. Guinea pigs were instrumental in exploring the pathogenesis of brucellosis in the early nineteenth century and could offer an improvement on the mouse model as a model for human brucellosis.

Keywords: Brucella spp.; animal model; comparative placentation; guinea pig (Cavia porcellus); zoonotic disease.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Liver of a guinea pig at 28 days of infection by Brucella melitensis. The guinea pig was infected intratracheally with 106 CFU of B. melitensis 16M. Liver granuloma indicated by arrows (H&E, bar, 200 μm). Areas of histiocytic inflammation with necrotic hepatocytes are randomly distributed (arrowheads). Inset, higher magnification of area indicated by arrow demonstrating central necrosis surrounded by neutrophils and macrophages (H&E, bar, 50 μm).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Comparative morphology of the human, guinea, and mouse placenta. The human and guinea pig placenta are hemomonochorial (A,B) while the mouse is hemotrichorial (C). The dashed rectangle outlines the interface of the fetal-maternal blood supplies, which is shown in higher detail to the right.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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