title: Foetal death in naive heifers inoculated with Neospora caninum isolate Nc-Spain7 at 110 days of pregnancy.
abstract: Neospora caninum infection is a leading cause of abortion in cattle worldwide. The pathogenesis of bovine neosporosis, particularly during the second term of gestation when most abortions occur in naturally infected dams, is poorly understood. In the present study foetal death was observed in 3 of 6 experimentally infected dams at 110 days of gestation after 6 weeks of experimental period. All experimental heifers were febrile between 3 and 5 days post infection (dpi). Inoculated dams seroconverted by 3-4 weeks post-infection with higher mean antibody titres in aborting dams compared to non-aborting heifers, although not significantly (p > 0.05). Neospora caninum DNA was detected in all infected foetuses and placentas, and three infected foetuses also had N. caninum antibodies. The parasite burden was higher in the brain of dead/aborted foetuses than in live foetuses. Interestingly, high IFN-γ production was detected in foetal fluids of a dead foetus found upon euthanasia of its dam, while no IFN-γ was observed in amniotic, allantoic and/or foetal fluids in the three infected foetuses that were alive upon maternal euthanasia. The present study confirms that the infection of dams on gestation day 110 with 10(7) tachyzoites of the Nc-Spain7 isolate causes abortion. The fact that some infected dams aborted and some did not is relevant to the understanding of N. caninum pathogenesis of abortion in naturally infected cows.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA) - Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus UAB, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: Sonia.Almeria@uab.cat.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Almería
authors.affiliation: Departament de Producció Animal, Universitat de Lleida, Agrotecnio Center, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Serrano-Perez
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA) - Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus UAB, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Darwich
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA) - Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus UAB, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Domingo
authors.affiliation: Departament de Producció Animal, Universitat de Lleida, Agrotecnio Center, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mur-Novales
authors.affiliation: SALUVET Group, Animal Health Department, Veterinary Sciences Faculty, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Regidor-Cerrillo
authors.affiliation: SEFaS, Dept. Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cabezón
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA) - Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Campus UAB, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez-Maillo
authors.affiliation: Departament de Producció Animal, Universitat de Lleida, Agrotecnio Center, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lopez-Helguera
authors.affiliation: SEFaS, Dept. Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fernández-Aguilar
authors.affiliation: SEFaS, Dept. Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puig-Ribas
authors.affiliation: SALUVET Group, Animal Health Department, Veterinary Sciences Faculty, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis Miguel
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ortega-Mora
authors.affiliation: Departament de Producció Animal, Universitat de Lleida, Agrotecnio Center, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: García-Ispierto
authors.affiliation: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agriculture Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Jitender P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.affiliation: Departament de Producció Animal, Universitat de Lleida, Agrotecnio Center, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: López-Gatius
mesh_terms: D037881:Aborted Fetus / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000662:veterinary*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000209:etiology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood; D018688:Neospora / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D010920:Placenta / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000401:mortality / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D007371:Interferon-gamma
keywords: Antibodies; Foetal IFN-γ; Neospora caninum; Pathogenesis of abortion; Second term of gestation