[Helicobacter pylori: studies in domestic swine]

In the course of 15 month, 240 stomachs from pigs slaughtered in three different slaughterhouses were examined for the presence of Helicobacter pylori. In 52.5% of the stomachs, gram-negative curved or spiral shaped bacteria were found, which during the following biochemical analyses were demonstrated to be urease negative. Helicobacter pylori could not be isolated from any of the stomachs. In addition, we conducted four separate experiments on five to eight weeks old piglets in order to determine whether they could be infected by the germ. In the first experiment, the piglets were starved for 24 hours and then driven for five minutes, before an elevated dose of Helicobacter pylori-germs was administrated orally. In the second experiment, acetylsalicylic acid, which is known to damage the stomach lining, was given, even on a damaged mucosa, a dose of 5 x 10(9) living germs could not provoke an infection by Helicobacter pylori. In the third experiment the piglets were given cimetidine, which reduces the production of stomach acid. This measure was presumed to facilitate the penetration of Helicobacter pylori from the stomach cavity underneath the protective mucus. The administration of Helicobacter pylori following the cimetidine-medication proved to be unsuccessful. In addition to culturing and the biochemical analyses employed in the three afore mentioned experiments, the fourth experiment included the identification of the germ means of a breath-analyzing test (with 13C-urea), as is used in medical diagnosis of helicobacteriosis. In these pigs too, infection with Helicobacter pylori was unsuccessful.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)