title: Toxoplasma gondii diagnosis in ovine aborted fetuses and stillborns in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil.
abstract: The aim of this research was to study the contribution of Toxoplasma gondii to reproductive failure using nested PCR and histopathological examination of fetuses, stillborns and placentas. We examined 245 organs of fetuses and 28 placentas from 35 abortions and stillborns from naturally occurring miscarriages in sheep in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. At necropsy, fragments of brain, cerebellum, medulla, lung, heart, spleen, liver and placenta were taken for nested PCR and histopathological tests. Pathological examination revealed macroscopic lesions, suggesting T. gondii infection in 5/35 (14.3%) of the placentas. The histopathological examination revealed no lesions characteristic of toxoplasmosis in the organs investigated. In the five placentas, lesions consistent with toxoplasmosis were observed as an inflammatory non-suppurative infiltrate, along with multiple necrosis and mineralization. Nested PCR showed three aborted fetuses and two stillborns (14.3%) to test positive for T. gondii, with DNA amplification in all organs and the placenta, especially the heart and the placenta, which are the tissues of choice. This study substantiates the theory that T. gondii is involved in miscarriages and stillbirths and in the placentas of naturally infected sheep in Brazil. Such findings have not previously been described in the national literature.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Doenças Infecto-Contagiosas dos Animais Domésticos, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife-PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Erica Paes Barreto Xavier
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: de Moraes
authors.forename: Mateus Matiuzzi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: da Costa
authors.forename: Antônio Flávio Medeiros
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Dantas
authors.forename: Jean Carlos Ramos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Rinaldo Aparecido
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Mota
mesh_terms: D037881:Aborted Fetus / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology; D008168:Lung / Q000469:parasitology; D010920:Placenta / Q000469:parasitology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012098:Reproduction; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000196:embryology / Q000469:parasitology; D034561:Sheep, Domestic; D013154:Spleen / Q000469:parasitology; D050497:Stillbirth / Q000662:veterinary; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000196:embryology / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan