title: Dose-dependent effects of experimental infection with the virulent Neospora caninum Nc-Spain7 isolate in a pregnant mouse model.
abstract: Pregnant BALB/c mice have been widely used as an in vivo model to study Neospora caninum infection biology and to provide proof-of-concept for assessments of drugs and vaccines against neosporosis. The fact that this model has been used with different isolates of variable virulence, varying infection routes and differing methods to prepare the parasites for infection, has rendered the comparison of results from different laboratories impossible. In most studies, mice were infected with similar number of parasites (2 × 10(6)) as employed in ruminant models (10(7) for cows and 10(6) for sheep), which seems inappropriate considering the enormous differences in the weight of these species. Thus, for achieving meaningful results in vaccination and drug efficacy experiments, a refinement and standardization of this experimental model is necessary. Thus, 2 × 10(6), 10(5), 10(4), 10(3) and 10(2) tachyzoites of the highly virulent and well-characterised Nc-Spain7 isolate were subcutaneously inoculated into mice at day 7 of pregnancy, and clinical outcome, vertical transmission, parasite burden and antibody responses were compared. Dams from all infected groups presented nervous signs and the percentage of surviving pups at day 30 postpartum was surprisingly low (24%) in mice infected with only 10(2) tachyzoites. Importantly, infection with 10(5) tachyzoites resulted in antibody levels, cerebral parasite burden in dams and 100% mortality rate in pups, which was identical to infection with 2 × 10(6) tachyzoites. Considering these results, it is reasonable to lower the challenge dose to 10(5) tachyzoites in further experiments when assessing drugs or vaccine candidates.
authors.affiliation: SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: davidarranz@ucm.es.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arranz-Solís
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: adriana.aguado@vetsuisse.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aguado-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: joachim.mueller@vetsuisse.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jregidor@ucm.es.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Regidor-Cerrillo
authors.affiliation: SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: luis.ortega@ucm.es.
authors.forename: Luis Miguel
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ortega-Mora
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: andrew.hemphill@vetsuisse.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hemphill
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008098:Litter Size; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018688:Neospora / Q000145:classification* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G
keywords: Dose titration; Experimental infection; Nc-spain7; Neospora caninum; Neosporosis; Pregnant mouse model