Helicobacter bilis explained

Helicobacter bilis is a bacterium in the Helicobacteraceae family, Campylobacterales order.^[1] It is a fusiform bacterium with three to 14 multiple bipolar sheathed flagella and periplasmic fibers wrapped around the cell. It is resistant to cephalothin and nalidixic acid, but sensitive to metronidazole. Like Helicobacter hepaticus, it colonizes the bile, liver, and intestine of mice, and is associated with multifocal chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular tumors.^[2]

This strain was originally isolated from a 47-year-old man with a one-month history of diarrhea, fever, and lower abdominal pain, and designated Flexispira rappini Romero et al. 1988. Hänninen et al. (2005) proposed to include this taxon in the species Helicobacter bilis, although based on 16S rRNA gene sequence, it is one of 10 distinct groups, which has been called Helicobacter sp. flexispira taxon 8 (provisionally Helicobacter rappini) [Dewhirst et al. 2000]. H. rappini has also been isolated from the feces of healthy people, dogs, and mice, as well as from patients with bacteremia. H. bilis and the other taxa include isolates from a wide range of host species, and have been associated with diarrhea, hepatitis, cholangitis, gallstones, liver cancer, and ovine abortion.

Further reading

• Kostomitsopoulos N, Donnelly H, Kostavasili I, Paronis E, Alexakos P, Karayannacos P . Eradication of Helicobacter bilis and H. hepaticus from infected mice by using a medicated diet . . 36 . 5 . 37–40. May 2007 . 17450169 . 10.1038/laban0507-37. 26505981 .
• Whary MT, Fox JG . Detection, eradication, and research implications of Helicobacter infections in laboratory rodents . . 35 . 7 . 25–7, 30–6 . 2006 . 16807564 . 10.1038/laban0706-25. 33577881 .
• Lemke. L. B.. Ge. Z.. Whary. M. T.. Feng. Y.. Rogers. A. B.. Muthupalani. S.. Fox. J. G.. Concurrent Helicobacter bilis Infection in C57BL/6 Mice Attenuates Proinflammatory H. pylori-Induced Gastric Pathology. Infection and Immunity. 77. 5. 2009. 2147–2158. 0019-9567. 10.1128/IAI.01395-08. 19223483. 2681733.
• Hanninen. M.-L.. Extension of the species Helicobacter bilis to include the reference strains of Helicobacter sp. flexispira taxa 2, 3 and 8 and Finnish canine and feline flexispira strains. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 55. 2. 2005. 891–898. 1466-5026. 10.1099/ijs.0.63245-0. 15774681. free.

External links

• • Type strain of Helicobacter bilis at BacDive - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase

Notes and References

1. Fox JG, Yan LL, Dewhirst FE, etal . Helicobacter bilis sp. nov., a novel Helicobacter species isolated from bile, livers, and intestines of aged, inbred mice . . 33 . 2 . 445–54 . February 1995 . 10.1128/JCM.33.2.445-454.1995 . 7536217 . 227964 .
2. Shomer NH, Dangler CA, Schrenzel MD, Fox JG . Helicobacter bilis-induced inflammatory bowel disease in scid mice with defined flora . . 65 . 11 . 4858–64 . November 1997 . 10.1128/IAI.65.11.4858-4864.1997 . 9353076 . 175697 .