Animals. Male Mongolian gerbils (13 weeks old, MGS/Sea)
infected with H. pylori (ATCC43504) were purchased from Seac
Yoshitomi (Fukuoka, Japan).32,33) Thirteen week old male Mongolian
gerbils (MON/Jms/Gbs) were purchased from Japan SLC (Shizuoka,
Japan). The animals were housed in cages at a temperature 23 Æ 2 C
and humidity 55 Æ 5% under a 12 h light and dark cycle, and were
given Oriental MFÒ sterilized with -rays from Oriental Yeast (Tokyo)
and water ad libitum throughout the experiment. The animals were
handled according to the guidelines of the Committee for Ethics in
Animal Experimentation of the University of Shizuoka.