Foetal death in naive heifers inoculated with Neospora caninum isolate Nc-Spain7 at 110 days of pregnancy
2016
Almería, S. | Serrano, Beatriz | Darwich, Laila | Molina Terrén, Domingo | Mur Novales, Ramón Miguel | Regidor-Cerrillo, Javier | Cabezón, Oscar | Pérez-Maillo, Mónica | López-Helguera, Irene | Fernández-Aguilar, Xavier | Puig-Ribas, Maria | Ortega-Mora, Luis Miguel | García Ispierto, Irina | Dubey, Jitender P. | López Gatius, Fernando
Neospora caninum infection is a leading cause of abortion in cattle worldwide. The pathogenesis of bovine neosporosis, particularly during the second term of gestation when most abortions occur in naturally infected dams, is poorly understood. In the present study foetal death was observed in 3 of 6 experimentally infected dams at 110 days of gestation after 6 weeks of experimental period. All experimental heifers were febrile between 3 and 5 days post infection (dpi). Inoculated dams seroconverted by 3-4 weeks post-infection with higher mean antibody titres in aborting dams compared to non-aborting heifers, although not significantly (p > 0.05). Neospora caninum DNA was detected in all infected foetuses and placentas, and three infected foetuses also had N. caninum antibodies. The parasite burden was higher in the brain of dead/aborted foetuses than in live foetuses. Interestingly, high IFN-gamma production was detected in foetal fluids of a dead foetus found upon euthanasia of its dam, while no IFN-gamma was observed in amniotic, allantoic and/or foetal fluids in the three infected foetuses that were alive upon maternal euthanasia. The present study confirms that the infection of dams on gestation day 110 with 10(7) tachyzoites of the Nc-Spain7 isolate causes abortion. The fact that some infected dams aborted and some did not is relevant to the understanding of N. caninum pathogenesis of abortion in naturally infected cows.
Show more [+] Less [-]The authors thank Ana Burton for assistance with the English translation. This study was supported by a grant from the Spanish MINECO (AGL2012-39830-C02-01/02) and FEDER. The authors would like to thank the farmers who provided the experimental heifers and the CReSA field study personnel for their help in the management of the animals.
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