Lee A, Fox J G, Otto G, Dick E H, Krakowka S
University of New South Wales, Kensington, Australia.
Epidemiol Infect. 1991 Aug;107(1):99-109. doi: 10.1017/s095026880004872x.
Faecal oral spread is claimed by many to be the mode of transmission of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori. This idea is based not on experimental data but because the epidemiology of H. pylori infection resembles that of other pathogens known to be spread by the faecal-oral route. This is in spite of the observation that no-one has been successful in culturing H. pylori from human stool. In this study, a series of transmission experiments are reported on animals infected with the gastric spirilla, Helicobacter felis and 'Gastrospirillum hominis'. Germfree mice and rats infected with H. felis did not transmit their infection to uninoculated mice despite prolonged contact in the same cage nor could the bacterium be isolated from their intestinal contents. This was confirmed in specific pathogen free mice where infected dams did not pass the helicobacter to their progeny. Similarly, mice infected with a human isolate of 'Gastrospirillum hominis' did not transmit the infection while in close contact with uninoculated mice. In contrast, in a limited series of experiments, both H. pylori and H. felis were transmitted from infected gnotobiotic Beagle puppies to uninfected animals in the same enclosure. In addition, the gastric mucus from a cat with indigenous 'Gastrospirillum'-like organisms was infectious for mice, whereas faecal content from the same animal was not. It is suggested that the difference between the murine and canine experiments is that the dogs are more likely to have oral-oral contact than rodents. Unlike dogs, mice and rats do not vomit and are coprophagous. It is concluded that the case for faecal-oral spread of Helicobacter species is 'not proven' and that the inter-oral route is more likely.
许多人认为粪口传播是胃部病原体幽门螺杆菌的传播方式。这一观点并非基于实验数据，而是因为幽门螺杆菌感染的流行病学特征与其他已知通过粪口途径传播的病原体相似。尽管有人观察到从未有人成功从人类粪便中培养出幽门螺杆菌，但仍有此观点。在本研究中，报告了一系列对感染胃螺旋菌、猫螺旋杆菌和“人胃螺旋菌”的动物进行的传播实验。感染猫螺旋杆菌的无菌小鼠和大鼠，尽管在同一笼子里长时间接触，也没有将感染传播给未接种的小鼠，而且从它们的肠道内容物中也分离不出这种细菌。在无特定病原体的小鼠中也得到了证实，受感染的母鼠没有将螺旋杆菌传给它们的后代。同样，感染人类分离株“人胃螺旋菌”的小鼠在与未接种的小鼠密切接触时也没有传播感染。相比之下，在一系列有限的实验中，幽门螺杆菌和猫螺旋杆菌都从感染的无菌比格幼犬传播到了同一围栏中的未感染动物。此外，一只带有本土“胃螺旋菌”样生物体的猫的胃黏液对小鼠具有传染性，而同一动物的粪便内容物则没有传染性。有人认为，小鼠和犬类实验的差异在于，狗比啮齿动物更有可能发生口对口接触。与狗不同，小鼠和大鼠不会呕吐，而且有食粪习性。得出的结论是，幽门螺杆菌通过粪口传播的说法“未经证实”，口对口途径更有可能。
