title: Leptospira interrogans induces uterine inflammatory responses and abnormal expression of extracellular matrix proteins in dogs.
abstract: Leptospira interrogans (L. interrogans), a worldwide zoonosis, infect humans and animals. In dogs, four syndromes caused by leptospirosis have been identified: icteric, hemorrhagic, uremic (Stuttgart disease) and reproductive (abortion and premature or weak pups), and also it caused inflammation. Extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex mixture of matrix molecules that is crucial to the reproduction. Both inflammatory response and ECM are closed relative to reproductive. The aim of this study was to clarify how L. interrogans affected the uterus of dogs, by focusing on the inflammatory responses, and ECM expression in dogs uterine tissue infected by L. interrogans. In the present study, 27 dogs were divided into 3 groups, intrauterine infusion with L. interrogans, to make uterine infection, sterile EMJH, and normal saline as a control, respectively. The uteruses were removed by surgical operation in 10, 20, and 30 days, respectively. The methods of histopathological analysis, ELISA, Western blot and qPCR were used. The results showed that L. interrogans induced significantly inflammatory responses, which were characterized by inflammatory cellular infiltration and high expression levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in uterine tissue of these dogs. Furthermore, L. interrogans strongly down-regulated the expression of ECM (collagens (CL) IV, fibronectins (FN) and laminins (LN)) in mRNA and protein levels. These data indicated that strongly inflammatory responses, and abnormal regulation of ECM might contribute to the proliferation of dogs infected by L. interrogans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xuejiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mengyao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenlong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Tiancheng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zecai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Haichao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: ygcao82@jlu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yongguo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130062, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: zhangns@jlu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Naisheng
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology*; D007921:Leptospira interrogans / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000473:pathology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014599:Uterus / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins
keywords: ECM; Inflammation; Leptospira interrogans; Reproduction; Uterus