title: Disseminated intravascular coagulation does not play a major role in the pathogenesis of classical swine fever.
abstract: Classical swine fever (CSF) is a multi-systemic disease that can be accompanied by severe haemorrhagic lesions. The underlying pathogenetic mechanisms are still far from being understood, though disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was discussed as a major factor. In the presented study, the direct thrombin inhibitor hirudin was used in an attempt to elucidate the role of the coagulation system in the pathogenesis of CSF-induced haemorrhagic lesions. Two groups of piglets (n=5) were infected with highly virulent CSF virus (CSFV) strain CSF0634. One group underwent daily treatment with hirudin, the other served as untreated challenge infection control. Assessment of clinical signs using a clinical score system, coagulation tests, and blood counts were performed daily. Both groups developed acute-lethal CSF with haemorrhagic lesions. Although changes in the coagulation system were seen in the late stages of CSFV infection, our results strongly suggest that DIC does not present the crucial event in the pathogenesis of haemorrhagic lesions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Suedufer 10, 17493 Greiswald, Insel Riems, Germany. Electronic address: sandra.blome@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blome
authors.affiliation: Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Veterinarian Task Force, 26029 Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meindl-Böhmer
authors.affiliation: Research Unit "Pharmacological Hemostaseology", Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Drackendorfer Str. 1, 07747 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Götz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Buenteweg 17, 30559 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Moennig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006691:Classical Swine Fever / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006692:Classical Swine Fever Virus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D004211:Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism; D006629:Hirudins / Q000097:blood; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D010314:Partial Thromboplastin Time / Q000662:veterinary; D010976:Platelet Count; D011897:Random Allocation; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013552:Swine; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000097:blood / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D006629:Hirudins; D005340:Fibrinogen