Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Inflammatory cells in dog skin infection protothecosis
By Pérez, J et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·1997·Departamento de Anatomí, Spain·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Canine cutaneous protothecosis: an immunohistochemical analysis of the inflammatory cellular infiltrate.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A dog with skin lesions was diagnosed with cutaneous protothecosis, a rare infection caused by a type of algae. The dog's treatment involved biopsies to monitor the immune response and the presence of the algae. During treatment, the number of immune cells increased, which helped reduce the algae in the skin. This suggests that the dog's immune system was responding effectively to the infection as treatment progressed.
People also search for: dog skin lesions treatment · cutaneous protothecosis in dogs · dog immune response to skin infection
Abstract
In this immunohistochemical study, the distribution of the cellular inflammatory infiltrate associated with cutaneous canine protothecosis (Prototheca wickerhamii) was evaluated by consecutive biopsies taken before, during and after treatment. Antibodies specific to canine immunoglobulins (IgG, IgM, IgA), human CD3 antigen (pan T-lymphocyte marker) and human myeloid/ histiocyte antigen (macrophage/neutrophil marker) were used. Before treatment, cellular infiltrate was very scanty in the inflamed areas, but it increased during the treatment, whereas the number of protothecal organisms decreased. Statistical analysis revealed an inverse relation between the number of protothecal organisms and the number of infiltrating macrophage/neutrophils (P < 0.004), T lymphocytes (P < 0.001), and cells containing immunoglobulin G (P < 0.001), M (P < 0.001) and A (P < 0.001) at different stages of the disease. These findings suggest either that protothecal organisms inhibit the migration or proliferation of cellular inflammatory infiltrate or that only dead protothecal organisms induce an effective local immune response.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9263846/