title: Interaction of Tritrichomonas foetus and the bovine oviduct in an organ culture model.
abstract: Tritrichomonas foetus is an extracellular parasite of the reproductive tract in cattle. The mechanism by which T. foetus causes abortion in cattle is largely unknown. There are no studies of infection in the cow oviducts, almost all published papers are related to vagina infection and few articles focusing on the uterus. The aim of the present study was to establish a working model of bovine oviduct epithelial cells and submit these cells to Tritrichomonas foetus interaction. Twenty bovine oviducts were obtained from cows at a commercial abattoir and T. foetus was injected through the isthmus into the oviduct lumen. The whole oviduct was analyzed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The results reported here demonstrate that: (1) fresh whole oviducts can be used as a good model to study parasite-host cell interaction; (2) cow oviduct epithelium has been shown to consist of two cell types: ciliated and nonciliated secretory cells, and T. foetus displayed great specificity for the nonciliated cells localized in the deeper oviduct folds; (3) T. foetus adheres as single separate cells, and maintains the flagella externalized; (4) differently from T. vaginalis, T. foetus does not change its shape during the adhesion process; and (5) oviduct cells exhibited morphological characteristics of apoptosis after trichomonadal interaction.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Santa Ursula, Rua Jornalista Orlando Dantas 59, CEP 222-31-010 Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. marleneben@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Marlene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benchimol
authors.forename: Angelo Burla
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: Reginaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fontes
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000034:Abortion, Veterinary / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000469:parasitology; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000166:cytology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000662:veterinary; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques / Q000662:veterinary; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000469:parasitology; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal; D016835:Tritrichomonas foetus / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology