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Infection and Immunity, October 2000, p. 5785-5793, Vol. 68, No. 10
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Pathogenesis of Infection by Clinical and Environmental Strains of Vibrio vulnificus in Iron-Dextran-Treated Mice

Angela M. Starks,1 Trenton R. Schoeb,2,dagger Mark L. Tamplin,3,Dagger Salina Parveen,3 Thomas J. Doyle,1 Philip E. Bomeisl,1 Gloria M. Escudero,1 and Paul A. Gulig1,*

Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, College of Medicine,1 Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine,2 and Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences,3 University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Received 31 January 2000/Returned for modification 5 April 2000/Accepted 10 July 2000

Vibrio vulnificus is an opportunistic pathogen that contaminates oysters harvested from the Gulf of Mexico. In humans with compromising conditions, especially excess levels of iron in plasma and tissues, consumption of contaminated seafood or exposure of wounds to contaminated water can lead to systemic infection and disfiguring skin infection with extremely high mortality. V. vulnificus-associated diseases are noted for the rapid replication of the bacteria in host tissues, with extensive tissue damage. In this study we examined the virulence attributes of three virulent clinical strains and three attenuated oyster or seawater isolates in mouse models of systemic disease. All six V. vulnificus strains caused identical skin lesions in subcutaneously (s.c.) inoculated iron dextran-treated mice in terms of numbers of recovered CFU and histopathology; however, the inocula required for identical frequency and magnitude of infection were at least 350-fold higher for the environmental strains. At lethal doses, all strains caused s.c. skin lesions with extensive edema, necrosis of proximate host cells, vasodilation, and as many as 108 CFU/g, especially in perivascular regions. These data suggest that the differences between these clinical and environmental strains may be related to growth in the host or susceptibility to host defenses. In non-iron dextran-treated mice, strains required 105-fold-higher inocula to cause an identical disease process as with iron dextran treatment. These results demonstrate that s.c. inoculation of iron dextran-treated mice is a useful model for studying systemic disease caused by V. vulnificus.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Box 100266, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610-0266. Phone: (352) 392-0050. Fax: (352) 392-3133. E-mail: gulig{at}ufl.edu.

dagger Present address: Department of Comparative Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-0019.

Dagger Present address: Microbial Food Safety Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor, PA 19038.

Infection and Immunity, October 2000, p. 5785-5793, Vol. 68, No. 10
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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