Abstract

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) are chronic intestinal immune disorders that include Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative colitis. IBD is the result of an abnormal immune response in susceptible hosts, triggered by a genetic and environmental component. For this reason, several reports have described that infection with enteropathogenic bacteria, such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium), could be a risk factor for these diseases. To evaluate the effect of S. Typhimurium infection on the onset of IBD, we evaluated in genetic mice model the IL-10-/- mice, and in a chemical, induce by Dextran Sulfate Sodium in wild-type mice. Both models were intragastrically infected with S. Typhimurium Wild Type (WT) and were treated with antibiotics to clear the bacterial infection for three weeks. Inflammation was evaluated in the intestine and persistence of the bacteria in different organs at the end of the experiment. We found that mice infected with S. Typhimurium showed increased levels of inflammation in ileum and colon as compared to non-infected mice. In addition, we detected persistent Salmonella infection in different organs of IL-10-/- mice after 42 days of infection, despite antibiotic treatment which we were unable to detect in colitis induction by DSS. Our results suggest that persistent S. Typhimurium infection could promote chronic inflammation in the intestine in a genetic mice model.