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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2000, p. 5301-5305, Vol. 66, No. 12
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Quantifying Translocation of Listeria monocytogenes in Rats by Using Urinary Nitric Oxide-Derived Metabolites

R. Corinne Sprong,1,* Marco F. E. Hulstein,1 and Roelof van der Meer1,2

Department of Nutrition, Quality and Safety, NIZO Food Research, 6710 BA Ede,1 and Wageningen Center for Food Sciences, 6700 AN Wageningen,2 The Netherlands

Received 18 May 2000/Accepted 29 September 2000

The urinary nitric oxide metabolites NO2- and NO3- (summed as NOx) are a noninvasive, quantitative biomarker of translocation of salmonella from the intestinal lumen to systemic organs. Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne gram-positive pathogen that can also cross the intestinal epithelium. In this study, we tested the efficacy of urinary NOx as a marker of listeria translocation. Rats (eight per group) were orally infected with increasing doses of L. monocytogenes; control rats received heat-killed listeria. The kinetics of urinary NOx and population levels of listeria in feces were determined for 7 days. Another group of rats was killed 1 day after infection to verify translocation by culturing viable listeria from systemic organs. Oral administration of increasing doses of L. monocytogenes resulted in a time- and dose-dependent increase in urinary NOx excretion. Translocation was a prerequisite for inducing a NOx response, since heat-killed L. monocytogenes did not elevate NOx excretion in urine. Fecal counts of listeria also showed dose and time dependency. Moreover, the number of viable L. monocytogenes cells in mesenteric lymph nodes also increased in a dose-dependent manner and correlated with urinary NOx. In conclusion, urinary NOx is a quantitative, noninvasive biomarker of listeria translocation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: NIZO Food Research, Department of Nutrition, Quality and Safety, P.O. Box 20, 6710 BA Ede, The Netherlands. Phone: 31 318 659511. Fax: 31 318 650400. E-mail: Sprong{at}NIZO.nl.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2000, p. 5301-5305, Vol. 66, No. 12
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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