Campylobacter jejuni infections in gnotobiotic pigs.

At 3 days of age, 12 gnotobiotic pigs were inoculated orally with broth cultures of Campylobacter jejuni. One pig was euthanatized and evaluated each day for 12 days. In the cecum and colon, there was diffuse edema, neutrophilic infiltration, and sloughing of epithelial cells from the mucosa on postinoculation days (PID) 2 through 5. Dysplastic colonic crypt epithelial cells were observed in the submucosa of the colon on PID 5 through 12. Curved, rod-shaped bacteria were detected on the surface of ileal, cecal, and colic absorptive and glandular epithelial cells. Bacteria also were found around small submucosal vessels on PID 3 and 4 and were associated with numerous perivascular neutrophils. The gnotobiotic pig appears to provide a simple, well-controlled in vivo model for the study of the pathogenesis of C jejuni infections in human beings, pigs, and other mammals.