Influence of a Metazoan Infection in the Mouse on Enteric Colonization and Immune Response to Escherichia coli

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Abstract
In an examination of the interaction between metazoan and bacterial pathogens, a laboratory model was developed with Nematospiroides dubius (a parasite of the upper intestine of the mouse) and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli O127. Weanling mice infected with N. dubius were orally inoculated with E. coli, and the distribution of both agents was studied in three 120-mm segments of intestine. In parasitized animals numbers of E. coli were 102–103 times greater in the lumen and wall of all portions of the intestine; the increase was most marked in the upper two segments. Although no bacteria were found in the liver of mice that were not parasitized, 103E. coli/ g of tissue were cultured from parasitized animals. The altered distribution of E. coli was reflected by a greatly increased specific immune response. The mean number of plaque-forming cells to E. coli in the spleens of mice infected with N. dubius was 53,501, as compared with 1,497 in controls that were not parasitized (P < 0.001). These findings suggest that certain gastrointestinal parasites alter the growth and distribution of enteropathogenic E. coli, promoting colonization of the upper intestine where these organisms exert their pathogenicity.

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