Arcobacter butzleri induces barrier dysfunction in intestinal HT-29/B6 cells

Abstract

Background. Arcobacter butzleri causes watery diarrhea and bacteremia. Although, recently, more cases of diarrhea have been caused by Arcobacter species, very little is known about its pathogenesis, the identification of which is the aim of this study. Methods. Human HT-29/B6 colonic epithelial monolayers were apically inoculated with A. butzleri. Transepithelial resistance and macromolecule fluxes were measured in Ussing chambers. Tight junction protein expression was analyzed by Western blotting, and subcellular distribution was analyzed by confocal laser-scanning microscopy. Results. Infection of HT-29/B6 caused a decrease in transepithelial resistance to 30% and an increase in paracellular permeability to fluorescein (10.8 ± 3.5 10 -6 cm/s vs. 1.8 ± 0.6 10 -6 cm/s in control; P