Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How E. coli affects immune response in dog uterine infection
By Henriques, Sofia et al.·Published in Veterinary research·2016·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Immunomodulation in the canine endometrium by uteropathogenic Escherichia coli.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A female dog with pyometra (a serious uterine infection) was studied to understand how a specific strain of E. coli bacteria affects her immune system and the health of her uterus. The research found that the hemolytic strain of E. coli caused more severe damage to the uterine cells compared to a non-hemolytic strain, leading to a higher risk of complications like metritis (inflammation of the uterus). The hemolytic strain also appeared to interfere with the immune response, which could worsen the infection. Understanding these effects can help veterinarians better treat dogs with pyometra, potentially improving recovery outcomes.
People also search for: dog pyometra treatment · E. coli infection in dogs · female dog uterine infection symptoms
Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the role of E. coli α-hemolysin (HlyA) in the pathogenesis of canine pyometra, and on the immune response of canine endometrial epithelial and stromal cells. In Experiment 1, the clinical, hematological, biochemical and uterine histological characteristics of β-hemolytic and non-hemolytic E. coli pyometra bitches were compared. More (p < 0.05) metritis cases were observed in β-hemolytic E. coli pyometra uteri than in non-hemolytic E. coli pyometra uteri. β-hemolytic E. coli pyometra endometria had higher gene transcription of IL-1β and IL-8 and lower gene transcription of IL-6 than non-hemolytic E. coli pyometra endometria (p < 0.01). In Experiment 2, the immune response of endometrial epithelial and stromal cells, to hemolytic (Pyo18) and non-hemolytic E. coli strains (Pyo18 with deleted hlya-Pyo18ΔhlyA- and Pyo14) were compared. Following 4 h of incubation, Pyo18 decreased epithelial cell numbers to 54% (p < 0.001), and induced death of all stromal cells (p < 0.0001), whereas Pyo18ΔhlyA and Pyo14 had no effect on cell numbers. Compared to Pyo18ΔhlyA and Pyo14, respectively, Pyo18 induced a lower transcription level of IL-1β (0.99 vs 152.0 vs 50.9 fold increase, p < 0.001), TNFα (3.2 vs 49.9 vs 12.9 fold increase, p < 0.05) and IL-10 (0.4 vs 3.6 vs 2.6 fold increase, p < 0.001) in stromal cells, after 1 h of incubation. This may be seen as an attempt of hemolytic E. coli to delay the activation of the immune response. In conclusion, endometrial epithelial and stromal cell damage induced by HlyA is a potential relevant step of E. coli virulence in the pathogenesis of pyometra.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27829462/