Helicobacter pylori colonization critically depends on postprandial gastric conditions.

The risk of Helicobacter pylori infection is highest in childhood, but the colonization process of the stomach mucosa is poorly understood. We used anesthetized Mongolian gerbils to study the initial stages of H. pylori colonization.

Specific therapeutic schemes of omeprazole affect the orientation of Helicobacter pylori.

Until now, it has been unclear how proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) support Helicobacter pylori therapy. We tested whether the PPI omeprazole acts on the spatial orientation of H. pylori in the gastric mucus of infected Mongolian gerbils.

Tracing of gastric reflux into the middle ear in a mongolian gerbil model.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to trace induced gastric reflux and to examine whether it reaches the middle ear in a Mongolian gerbil model.

Background: Otitis media with effusion is the most frequent middle ear disease in childhood. Gastroesophageal reflux is suspected to be a possible factor in its pathogenesis.

Gastric antibacterial efficiency is different for pepsin A and C.

The gastric lumen represents a bactericidal barrier, whose major components are an acidic pH and a family of isoenzymes of the gastric aspartate protease, pepsin. To evaluate whether specific pepsins are specialized in antibacterial protection, we tested their effects on the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori. In a recent study we found pepsin to affect the motility of the bacteria, one of its most important virulence factors.

Rapid loss of motility of Helicobacter pylori in the gastric lumen in vivo.

The human pathogen Helicobacter pylori has infected more than half of the world's population. Nevertheless, the first step of infection, the acute colonization of the gastric mucus, is poorly understood. For successful colonization, H.

The spatial orientation of Helicobacter pylori in the gastric mucus.

The highly motile human pathogen Helicobacter pylori lives deep in the gastric mucus layer. To identify which chemical gradient guides the bacteria within the mucus layer, combinations of luminal perfusion, dialysis, and ventilation were used to modify or invert transmucus gradients in anaesthetized Helicobacter-infected mice and Mongolian gerbils. Neither changes in lumen or arterial pH nor inversion of bicarbonate/CO2 or urea/ammonium gradients disturbed Helicobacter orientation.