Kronisk gastroenterit hos hund med avseende på histopatologisk bild och förekomst av Helicobacter spp

Sammanfattning: It is well known that dogs often have Helicobacter spp in their stomach. The importance of these bacteria in the development of gastrointestinal disease in dogs is still unknown. In humans, Helicobacter pylori is a causative agent of chronic gastritis and gastric ulcers. In contrast to humans, dogs seldom harbour naturally acquired H. pylori. Instead they are more often colonized by other Helicobacter spp, like Helicobacter bizzozeroni, Helicobacter salomonis and Helicobacter felis. Usually different species are present simultaneously, which makes it difficult to know if some species are responsible for the symptoms or if all species are normal inhabitants of the stomach. The widespread occurrence of Helicobacter spp in dogs also makes it difficult to find bacteria-free control groups. Despite the uncertainty about the role of Helicobacter spp in the pathogenesis of gastritis, there are treatment recommendations in the literature, often combinations of antibiotics and antacids. This investigation is part of a larger study, with the aim to identify Helicobacter spp in stomach, saliva and faeces in healthy dogs and in dogs with signs of gastrointestinal disease. In addition, the histopathological appearance of the stomach was investigated, and correlated to presence of Helicobacter spp. The occurrence of Helicobacter spp in the stomach and the histopathological appearance of the mucosa were investigated in 7 family dogs with signs of gastrointestinal disease and in 5 healthy colony dogs without signs of gastrointestinal disease. The presence of Helicobacter spp in saliva and faeces was investigated in the two groups and in 17 healthy family dogs without signs of gastrointestinal disease. Helicobacter-bacteria were identified with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and light microscopy of histological sections. The results show that Helicobacter spp are common in saliva, faeces and gastric mucosa in both healthy dogs and in dogs with signs of gastrointestinal disease. In general, the healthy colony dogs showed higher degree of abnormal histopathological findings than did the dogs with signs of gastrointestinal disease. Helicobacter spp were found in stomachs from dogs in both groups. This study could not correlate occurrence of Helicobacter spp to occurrence of gastrointestinal disease.