Role of enterotoxins in the induction of early immune responses and small-intestinal secretion in ETEC-infected piglets

ABSTRACT: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains that produce both heat-stable (ST) and heat-labile (LT) enterotoxins cause severe post-weaning diarrhea in piglets. However, the relative importance of the individual enterotoxins to the pathogenesis of ETEC infection is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effect on virulence of an F4+ ETEC strain when removing some or all of its enterotoxins. Several isogenic mutant strains were constructed that lack the expression of LT in combination with one or both types of ST enterotoxins (STa and/or STb). Host early immune responses induced by these mutant strains 4h after infection were compared to the wild type strain GIS26  (O149:F4ac+,  LT+  STa+  STb+). At the same time, the immune response of this wild type ETEC strain was c

ORGANISM(S): Sus scrofa

SUBMITTER: Joke Allemeersch 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-28003 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress