Immunohistochemical characterization of lung lesions induced experimentally by Mycoplasma agalactiae and Mycoplasma bovis in goats.
Goats aged 3 months were inoculated with a recent isolate of Mycoplasma agalactiae (five animals) or Mycoplasma bovis (five animals) by a combined (intratracheal+intranasal) route. Two control goats were inoculated by the same route with sterile mycoplasma broth. Animals were killed 14 or 21 days after infection. At necropsy, tracheal and lung tissue was taken for pathological and immunohistochemical examination to determine changes in the lymphocyte subpopulations in the bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT). Consolidation of the lungs was not observed in any animal. M. agalactiae or M. bovis was recovered from the respiratory tract and lung of all but two infected animals. Both Mycoplasma spp. induced a moderate bronchointerstitial pneumonia, characterized by lymphoid hyperplasia of the BALT and infiltration of mononuclear cells into the alveolar walls. The predominant phagocytic cell in the pulmonary parenchyma and the airways was the macrophage. The main cellular type in the BALT was the CD3(+)T lymphocyte, and the ratio of CD4(+): CD8(+)cells was >1. It is likely that cellular immune mechanisms, through the activation of CD4(+)T lymphocytes, plays a prominent role in the acute and subacute phase of these infections.
Rodríguez
F
F
Department of Comparative Pathology, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Trasmontaña, 35416 Arucas, Gran Canaria, Spain.
Sarradell
J
J
Poveda
J B
JB
Ball
H J
HJ
Fernández
A
A
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D017252:CD3 Complex / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D006041:Goats; D006644:Histiocytes / Q000276:immunology; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000276:immunology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008168:Lung / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D009113:Muramidase / Q000378:metabolism; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D022423:Myeloid Cells / Q000276:immunology; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000276:immunology; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000276:immunology; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D017252:CD3 Complex; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta; D009418:S100 Proteins; C110294:S100A1 protein; D009113:Muramidase