Tritrichomonas foetus: experimental infection in pregnant BALB/c mice.
Bovine genital tritrichomonosis is a venereal disease produced by the flagellate Tritrichomonas foetus. The disease is characterized by the repetition of oestrus and infertility due to embryonic or foetal death. Numerous experimental rodent models have been developed, but none of them has been applied in pregnant females. In this work, we reproduced genital tritrichomonosis in pregnant BALB/c mice. The results were analysed considering the following pregnancy phases: early, middle and final. In the infected group, embryonic loss was significantly higher and occurred in the early and middle phases, in accordance with the time of embryo death in infected bovines. In infected animals at the early phase of pregnancy there was evidence of embryonic death without inflammatory changes in the uterus, suggesting a pathogenic mechanism that does not involve direct tissue damage. In the later days, conceptus loss was associated with endometritis and changes in the decidua.
Barbeito
Claudio
C
Laboratory of Histology and Embryology, School of Veterinary Sciences, National University of La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. barbeito@fcv.unlp.edu.ar
Woudwyk
Mariana
M
Cacciato
Claudio
C
Soto
Pedro
P
Portiansky
Enrique
E
Catena
María
M
Echavarria
Hilda
H
Gimeno
Eduardo
E
Monteavaro
Cristina
C
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal; D016835:Tritrichomonas foetus / Q000502:physiology*