RESUMO
Bovine abortion causes considerable economic losses to the livestock industry worldwide and is of concern for public health and food safety, given that many abortigenic infectious agents of cattle are zoonotic. Despite its importance, the etiological diagnosis of abortion in cattle is challenging both for veterinary practitioners and laboratory technicians, partly due to the difficulty in recovering aborted fetuses under extensive field conditions for pathological and microbiological diagnostic investigation, and in the early identification of aborted dams. Neospora caninum is a cosmopolitan protozoon identified as one of the main abortigenic agents in cattle worldwide. In this study we propose a comparative seroepidemiological approach for the diagnosis of abortion by N. caninum in dairy cattle. Samples from 12 to 93 cows/heifers with and without recent history of abortion (cases and controls) in four commercial dairy farms were tested. The ratio of controls to cases tested varied from 1:1 to 4.6:1. All samples (n=230) were analyzed by three commercial ELISA kits for the detection of anti-N. caninum antibodies. In all four dairy farms, the proportion of seropositive cows and/or heifers per kit was significantly higher in the cases than in the controls (Odds Ratios=5.13 to 36, p=0.0002 to 0.0485). The agreement among the three kits varied from weak to strong (Cohens kappa coefficients=0.58 to 0.83). We conclude that, despite the imperfect agreement between these kits, all of them allowed to arrive at similar conclusions regarding the statistical association between N. caninum seropositivity and abortion, thus representing a useful tool for the diagnostic approach at the population level under field conditions.
Assuntos
Aborto Animal/sangue , Aborto Animal/parasitologia , Anticorpos Antiprotozoários/sangue , Doenças dos Bovinos/sangue , Doenças dos Bovinos/parasitologia , Ensaio de Imunoadsorção Enzimática , Neospora/imunologia , Infecções Protozoárias em Animais/sangue , Infecções Protozoárias em Animais/diagnóstico , Animais , Bovinos , Doenças dos Bovinos/diagnóstico , Indústria de Laticínios , Feminino , UruguaiRESUMO
Ovine toxoplasmosis is a major cause of abortion and placentitis. Lambs with congenital infection are born with encephalitis. Abortions occurred between May and August 2006 in an estate in Três Palmeiras, southern Brazil. This study aimed to assess the frequency of abortion associated with toxoplasmosis among ewes in southern Brazil using indirect hemagglutination and pathoanatomical and immunohistochemical analyses. Blood samples were collected from nine animals for indirect hemagglutination. One fetus underwent necropsy and histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses. Three samples, one of which belonged to the necropsied animals mother, were positive on the serological test. The necropsy revealed pale foci in the liver, lungs with a marbled appearance, heart with severe pallor and brain and cerebellar congestion. Fragments of all organs were collected, fixed in 10% buffered formalin, processed, and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Microscopically, there were cysts and tachyzoites in the brain in areas of malacia with microgliosis and lymphoplasmacytic infiltration, suggesting toxoplasmic encephalitis. There was also interstitial pneumonia, centrolobular necrosis with structures compatible with tachyzoites, focal lymphocytic myocarditis and acute tubular nephrosis. The immunohistochemical test was positive for Toxoplasma gondii. The results allowed diagnosing the ovine toxoplasmosis.
Assuntos
Aborto Animal/parasitologia , Toxoplasmose Animal/sangue , Toxoplasmose Animal/patologia , Aborto Animal/sangue , Aborto Animal/patologia , Animais , Feminino , Imuno-Histoquímica , Gravidez , Ovinos , Toxoplasmose Animal/complicaçõesRESUMO
Body temperature responses and the timing of abortions were evaluated in pregnant bitches with the anti-progestin aglepristone. Fifteen purebred and crossbred, 25-45 days pregnant, were included in this study and seven untreated bitches at the same stage of pregnancy served as controls. Treated bitches were administered two applications of aglepristone (10 mg/kg SC) 24 h apart for pregnancy termination. Pregnancy termination was confirmed by ultrasonographic assessment. Body temperature was rectally measured three times a day for 6 days beginning 24 h before treatment or pregnancy diagnosis in the treated and control bitches, respectively. Additionally, serum progesterone concentrations were assessed at time points during the study in the treated bitches. Pregnancy was terminated in 14 treated bitches in a mean+/-S.E.M. of 4.3+/-0.7 days after treatment. Control bitches remained pregnant. In the treated bitches, but not in the controls, body temperature significantly decreased 24 h after the beginning of the treatments (P < 0.01) and then gradually returned to pre-treatment values. Correlation between the day of mean minimum body temperature and the day of pregnancy termination was low (0.07; > 0.05). Progesterone did not show significant change throughout the study. Body temperature does not seem to be a suitable variable to clinically monitor the aborting effect of aglepristone. Decrease of body temperature after aglepristone treatment could represent further evidence of its hypothalamic effects.
Assuntos
Abortivos Esteroides/farmacologia , Aborto Induzido/veterinária , Aborto Animal/induzido quimicamente , Temperatura Corporal/fisiologia , Cães/fisiologia , Estrenos/farmacologia , Aborto Animal/sangue , Animais , Temperatura Corporal/efeitos dos fármacos , Cães/sangue , Feminino , Gravidez , Progesterona/antagonistas & inibidores , Progesterona/sangueRESUMO
Serum measurements of chorionic gonadotropin (CG), estradiol (E-2) and progesterone (P) were used to describe patterns of hormonal change in Bolivian squirrel monkeys undergoing spontaneous abortion. During early pregnancy, serum CG levels gradually increased, reaching maximum levels at the end of the first 50 days of pregnancy (range: 200-1964 ug protein/ml). E-2 concentrations also increased to high levels (10-30 ng/ml) toward the end of pregnancy, while serum P remained fairly constant at levels above 100 ng/ml. A gradual decline in serum hormone concentrations was observed in aborting animals. CG levels declined to less than 100 ug protein/ml while E-2 and P decreased to concentrations characteristic of nonpregnant cycling animals, less than 500 pg/ml and 20 ng/ml respectively. The data suggest that two weekly measurements of CG and E-2 could be used to identify monkeys undergoing abortion and those which have already aborted.