Helicobacter bilis

{{Short description|Species of bacterium}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Helicobacter sp 01.jpg

| image_caption = Scanning electron micrograph of Helicobacter bilis bacteria

| genus = Helicobacter

| species = bilis

| authority = Fox et al., 1995

}}

Helicobacter bilis is a bacterium in the Helicobacteraceae family, Campylobacterales order.{{cite journal |vauthors=Fox JG, Yan LL, Dewhirst FE, etal |title=Helicobacter bilis sp. nov., a novel Helicobacter species isolated from bile, livers, and intestines of aged, inbred mice |journal=Journal of Clinical Microbiology |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=445–54 |date=February 1995 |doi=10.1128/JCM.33.2.445-454.1995 |pmid=7536217 |pmc=227964 |url=}} It is a fusiform bacterium with three to 14 multiple bipolar sheathed flagella and periplasmic fibers wrapped around the cell. It is resistant to cephalothin and nalidixic acid, but sensitive to metronidazole. Like Helicobacter hepaticus, it colonizes the bile, liver, and intestine of mice, and is associated with multifocal chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular tumors.{{cite journal |vauthors=Shomer NH, Dangler CA, Schrenzel MD, Fox JG |title=Helicobacter bilis-induced inflammatory bowel disease in scid mice with defined flora |journal=Infection and Immunity |volume=65 |issue=11 |pages=4858–64 |date=November 1997 |doi=10.1128/IAI.65.11.4858-4864.1997 |pmid=9353076 |pmc=175697 |url=}}

This strain was originally isolated from a 47-year-old man with a one-month history of diarrhea, fever, and lower abdominal pain, and designated Flexispira rappini Romero et al. 1988. Hänninen et al. (2005) proposed to include this taxon in the species Helicobacter bilis, although based on 16S rRNA gene sequence, it is one of 10 distinct groups, which has been called Helicobacter sp. flexispira taxon 8 (provisionally Helicobacter rappini) [Dewhirst et al. 2000]. H. rappini has also been isolated from the feces of healthy people, dogs, and mice, as well as from patients with bacteremia. H. bilis and the other taxa include isolates from a wide range of host species, and have been associated with diarrhea, hepatitis, cholangitis, gallstones, liver cancer, and ovine abortion.