RT Journal Article
T1 The route of Besnoitia besnoiti tachyzoites inoculation does not influence the clinical outcome of the infection in calves
A1 Diezma Díaz, Carlos
A1 Ferré Pérez, Ignacio
A1 Re, Michela Tatiana
A1 Jiménez Meléndez, Alejandro
A1 Tabanera De Lucio, Enrique
A1 González Huecas, Marta
A1 Pizarro Díaz, Manuel
A1 Yanguas Pérez, D.
A1 Brum, P. L.
A1 Blanco Murcia, Francisco Javier
A1 Ortega Mora, Luis Miguel
A1 Álvarez García, Gema
AB In a previous attempt, an experimental model of bovine besnoitiosis was established in calves that were intravenously inoculated with different doses of Besnoitia besnoiti tachyzoites. Despite the fact that all infected calves developed the acute stage of disease, only microscopic findings characteristic of chronic besnoitiosis were reported. In the present study, calves were inoculated by subcutaneous and intradermal routes with B. besnoiti tachyzoites with the aim of developing clinical signs and macroscopic lesions characteristic of chronic besnoitiosis. Nine 3-month-old male calves were randomly distributed into three groups of three animals each. Next, 10⁶ tachyzoites were inoculated by either the subcutaneous (G1) or intradermal route (G2). The negative control group (G3) was inoculated with PBS. Daily clinical monitoring and regular blood collection were performed. At 70 days post-infection (pi), animals were euthanized, and tissues were collected to investigate lesions and parasites. Infected animals developed mild-moderate acute besnoitiosis characterized by lymphadenopathy from four days to 47 days pi, and sporadic fever peaks were only observed in one calf from G2. However, other clinical signs and macroscopic lesions characteristic of chronic besnoitiosis were not detected. Only nine tissue samples were B. besnoiti-DNA-positive, eight of which belonged to reproductive and respiratory tracts tissues from G1. Finally, the kinetics of the immune responses were similar in both infected groups. However, delayed and lower cellular and humoral immune responses were observed in G1 followed by G2 and were compared with intravenously inoculated calves. The differences observed among the three inoculation routes could be due to different effector mechanisms of the host early innate immune response against B. besnoiti. Accordingly, the inoculation route of B. besnoiti tachyzoites does not significantly influence the clinical outcome of the infection in calves. Thus, a further refinement of this experimental model of bovine besnoitiosis is needed to reproduce macroscopic lesions characteristic of chronic stage disease.
PB Elsevier
SN 0304-4017
SN 1873-2550
YR 2019
FD 2019-02-02
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/116349
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/116349
LA eng
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
NO Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (España)
NO Comunidad de Madrid
DS Docta Complutense
RD 21 abr 2025