Vertical transmission of Neospora caninum in BALB/c mice determined by polymerase chain reaction detection.
Vertical transmission of Neospora caninum was evaluated in BALB/c mice using an N. caninum-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay as a means of detecting parasite transmission to offspring. BALB/c mice were infected with the NC-1 isolate of N. caninum during pregnancy (days 8-15 gestation). Transmission of parasite, detected by PCR, was determined in 2- to 23-day-old offspring. When dams were infected on days 13-15 of gestation, transfer of parasites was detected in only a proportion of the litter. Infection between days 8 and 12 of gestation resulted in a high frequency of parasite transmission; every offspring from all litters was infected. The tissue locations of parasites in pups of different ages were determined. In young pups (2- to 4-days-old), the predominant sites of infection were the lungs and the brain. In older pups (7- and 23-days-old) the predominant site of infection was the brain. This study shows that PCR may be useful for evaluation of candidate vaccines against horizontal N. caninum infection, vertical transmission, or both.
Liddell
S
S
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Livestock and Poultry Sciences Institute, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA.
Jenkins
M C
MC
Dubey
J P
JP
D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000469:parasitology*; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology; D008168:Lung / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018688:Neospora / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic; D013154:Spleen / Q000469:parasitology
D016054:DNA, Protozoan