Shigella dysenteriae type 1-induced diarrhea in rats

With the aim of setting up an animal model of Shigella dysenteriae-induced diarrhea, Wistar rats received per os increasing densities of S. dysenteriae type 1 (Sd1). Inoculum of 12 x 10(8) Sd1 provoked dysenteric diarrhea within 24 h. Feces of healthy rats were molded, brown to black and rough. Rats developing diarrhea presented blood at the anal orifice; stools were soft or liquid containing mucus, or molded, smooth and mucus-coated. At times, stools appeared longer, dark and shiny due to the presence of mucus and blood, or molded, lumpy and brittle. Diarrheal induction was associated with abdominal ailment, progressive increase in stool weight and frequency, and increase in bacterial population. Sixty-seven percent of the total number of deaths had occurred by day 6 after diarrheal induction. These results indicate that Sd1 induced in rats a model of shigellosis which might be helpful for physiopathological and pharmacological studies of this type of infectious diarrhea.