Rickettsia helvetica in C3H/HeN mice: A model for studying pathogen-host interactions
Apolline Maitre,
Lourdes Mateos-Hernandez,
Tal Azagi,
Angélique Foucault-Simonin,
Sabine Rakotobe,
Zbigniew Zając,
Pavle Banović,
Stefania Porcelli,
Aurélie Heckmann,
Clémence Galon,
Hein Sprong,
Sara Moutailler,
Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz,
Andrea C. Fogaça
Affiliations
Apolline Maitre
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France; INRAE, UR 0045 Laboratoire de Recherches Sur Le Développement de L'Elevage (SELMET-LRDE), 20250, Corte, France; EA 7310, Laboratoire de Virologie, Université de Corse, Corte, France
Lourdes Mateos-Hernandez
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France
Tal Azagi
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Netherlands
Angélique Foucault-Simonin
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France
Sabine Rakotobe
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France
Zbigniew Zając
Department of Biology and Parasitology, Medical University of Lublin, Radziwiłłowska 11 st, 20-080, Lublin, Poland
Pavle Banović
Clinic for Lyme Borreliosis and Other Tick-Borne Diseases, Pasteur Institute Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia; Department of Microbiology with Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia; Diagnostics and Laboratory Research Task Force, Balkan Association for Vector-Borne Diseases, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia
Stefania Porcelli
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France
Aurélie Heckmann
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France
Clémence Galon
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France
Hein Sprong
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Netherlands
Sara Moutailler
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France
Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France; Corresponding author.
Andrea C. Fogaça
Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Corresponding author.
An infection with the tick-borne Rickettsia helvetica has been associated with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations in humans, but patients are only seldomly reported. Understanding its disease etiology necessitates well-stablished infection models, improving to recognize and diagnose patients with R. helvetica infection and facilitating the development of effective control strategies. In this study, we used C3H/HeN mice as a model to establish R. helvetica infection, achieving a high infection prevalence (89–100 %). While the liver and the spleen DNA consistently tested positive for infection in all challenged mice, additional infected organs included the kidneys, heart, and the lungs. Notably, a low prevalence of infection was observed in I. ricinus nymphs fed on R. helvetica-challenged mice. In addition, larvae were refractory to infection, suggesting that ticks exhibit low susceptibility to the pathogen. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of an animal model for R. helvetica infection. It serves as a valuable tool for advancing research on the interactions among the bacterium and its vertebrate host.
