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Chronic Mycobacterium marinum Infection Acts as a Tumor Promoter in Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes)
Citation:
BROUSSARD, G. W., M. B. NORRIS, A. R. SCHWINDT, J. W. FOURNIE, R. N. WINN, M. L. KENT, AND D. G. ENNIS. Chronic Mycobacterium marinum Infection Acts as a Tumor Promoter in Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes). COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY PART C. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 149(2):152-160, (2009).
Impact/Purpose:
To investigate the effects of chronic Mycobacterium marinum Infections on tumorigenesis in the Japanese Medaka.
Description:
An accumulating body of research indicates there is an increased cancer risk associated with chronic infections. The genus Mycobacterium contains a number of species, including M tuberculosis, which mount chronic infections and have been implicated in higher cancer risk. Several non-tuberculosis mycobacterial species, including M. marinum, are known to cause chronic infections in fish and like human tuberculosis, often go undetected. The elevated carcinogenic potential for fish colonies infected with Mycobacterium spp. could have far reaching implications because fish models are widely used to study human diseases. Japanese medaka (Oiyzias latipes) is an established laboratory fish model for toxicology, mutagenesis, and carcinogenesis; and produces a chronic tuberculosis-like disease when infected by M marinum We examined the role that chronic mycobacterial infections play in cancer risk for medaka. Experimental M marinum infections of medaka alone did not increase the mutational loads or proliferative lesion incidence in all tissues examined. However, we showed that chronic M martin n infections increased hepatocellular proliferative lesions in fish also exposed to low doses of the mutagen benzo[a]pyrene. These results indicate that chronic mycobacterial infections of medaka are acting as tumor promoters and thereby suggest increased human risks for cancer promotion in human populations burdened with chronic tuberculosis infections.