Study on their experimetation of gerbils living in China for infectious diseases.

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In order to investigate the potential use of Chinese gerbils as a laboratory animal model for human infectious diseases, we performed field surveys of wild rodents including gerbils living in the northwestern (Ily), southern (Quimo) and western (Kashu and Khotan) areas of the Xinjiang-Uygur autonomous regions of China three times between 2001 and 2003. In total, 340 small rodents of 10 species including gerbils were captured in the surveys, parasitological examinations of the rodents were performed, and fecal and DNA samples were also collected. PCR analysis using fecal samples revealed that Helicobacter spp. was widespread in wild rodents but H.pylori was not detected in any genera tested. Experimental infections of the captured gerbils with human pathogens, Helicobacter pylori, Trichinera spilaris, Echinococcus spp and Leishmania infantum were also performed to investigate sensitivity of infection in the gerbils. In order to clarify the phylogenic relationships among seven species of gerbils living in China, DNA sequences of parts of the mitochondrial cytochrome b and cylochrome c oxidase subunit II genes were determined and compared. These studies revealed that regional variations exist in Meriones meridianus and that M.chengi, which was considered as an independent species, was actually a synonym of M.meridianus. These DNA sequences registered in GenBank may contribute to the phylogenic study on gerbils world wide.