Salmonella and Shigella adherence to the intestine of mice

The in vivo adherence of [14C]glucose-labeled Shigella and Salmonella strains to the intestine of the mouse was investigated. Salmonella strains adhered significantly better to the small bowel mucosa than to the large bowel, while Shigella strains adhered significantly better to the colonic mucosa than to the small bowel mucosa. A mannose-sensitive lectin-bearing Salmonella strain adhered significantly better to the jejunal mucosa than did a mannose-resistant variant. A mannose-sensitive Shigella strain adhered significantly better to the colonic mucosa than did the mannose-resistant strain. The addition of a mannose derivative diminished but did not abolish the adherence of the mannose-sensitive strains. These findings suggest that different segments of the intestine may have different receptors for bacteria regardless of their pathogenicity. Adherence may depend, in part, on the presence of mannose-sensitive lectin on the bacterial surface. Mannose derivative can partially inhibit bacterial adherence to the intestinal epithelium. Despite the lack of pathogenicity of Salmonella and Shigella in the mouse, this model can be further used for studying the adherence process, as well as the therapeutic measures that interfere with it.