Renal Injury Is a Consistent Finding in Dutch Belted Rabbits Experimentally Infected with Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) produces Shiga toxin (Stx) and causes renal disease in humans. Dutch Belted (DB) rabbits naturally infected with EHEC O153 develop hemolytic-uremic syndrome–like disease. The aims of this study were to experimentally reproduce O153-induced renal disease in DB rabbits and investigate bacterial and host factors involved in pathogenesis. The pathogenicity of E. coli O157:H7 was also investigated in rabbits. The stx1AB region of O153 was sequenced. By use of liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, we identified homologs of the Stx receptor, globotr... Mehr ...