Enterotoxigenic Campylobacter jejuni & C. coli in the etiology of diarrhoea in northern India.

Faecal specimens from subjects with (320) and without (450) diarrhoea were screened for Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli. C. jejuni and C. coli were detected in 5 per cent of subjects with diarrhoea and 0.7 per cent of those without diarrhoea and the difference was significant (P less than or equal to 0.01). The isolation rate was much higher in under five diarrhoeal children (8.3%), in comparison to the older group (3.0%). Eleven diarrhoeal isolates of C. jejuni and C. coli were tested in rat ileal loops for enterotoxigenicity. All the strains caused fluid accumulation in the loop model. However, 6 strains required up to 3 consecutive passage(s) to do so. Therefore, rat ileal loops were found to be sensitive and reproducible animal model for the demonstration of enterotoxin produced by C. jejuni and C. coli. The culture filtrates of 3 strains of C. jejuni and C. coli were subjected to neutralisation with cholera antitoxin. The fluid accumulation was completely neutralised up to 1 in 80 dilution showing immunobiological relationship between C. jejuni and C. coli enterotoxin and cholera toxin.