Characterization of the Pathogenesis Mechanism after Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection through Food Consumption Using Chick Embryo Model

This study introduced a chick embryos’ infection model to elucidate the pathogenesis mechanism of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes serious diseases in human after ingestion of P. aeruginosa-contaminated animal originated foods. The embryonic chick model is able to give a rapid and relatively inexpensive method to assess bacterial pathogenicity compared to embryos of other vertebrates. Embryos were infected with P. aeruginosa and elastase-deficient P. aeruginosa. After infection with P. aeruginosa cells, total bacterial cell numbers and gelatinase activities in the embryos were compared. Thereafter, precartilage condensation and chondrogenesis were assessed by peanut agglutinin (PNA) binding on day 3 and by Alcian blue staining for sulfated proteoglycans on day 5, respectively. P. aeruginosa significantly increased in embryos, resulting in abnormal limb development, whereas P. aeruginosa defective in elastase activity partly impaired proliferation. In addition, P. aeruginosa-infected chick embryos significantly stimulated the production of matrix metalloproteinases. Several analyses showed that elevated proteases suppressed the proliferation and survival of chondrogenic cells. The results show that this infection model was a useful assay to determine the virulence mechanism of P. aeruginosa in human after intake of microbiologically contaminated foods.