Bioluminescent imaging reveals novel patterns of colonization and invasion in systemic Escherichia coli K1 experimental infection in the neonatal rat.

ABSTRACT: Key features of Escherichia coli K1-mediated neonatal sepsis and meningitis, such as a strong age dependency and development along the gut-mesentery-blood-brain course of infection, can be replicated in the newborn rat. We examined temporal and spatial aspects of E. coli K1 infection following initiation of gastrointestinal colonization in 2-day-old (P2) rats after oral administration of E. coli K1 strain A192PP and a virulent bioluminescent derivative, E. coli A192PP-lux2. A combination of bacterial enumeration in the major organs, two-dimensional bioluminescence imaging, and three-dimensional diffuse light imaging tomography with integrated micro-computed tomography indicated multiple sites of colonization within the alimentary canal; these included the tongue, esophagus, and stomach in

SUBMITTER: Witcomb LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4645386 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature