Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Leptospira infection causes uterine inflammation and protein changes
By Wang, Wei et al.·Published in Microbial pathogenesis·2014·Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, China·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Leptospira interrogans induces uterine inflammatory responses and abnormal expression of extracellular matrix proteins in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs infected with Leptospira interrogans, a bacteria that can cause serious illness, showed signs of inflammation in their uterine tissue. Symptoms included abnormal cellular responses and changes in important proteins that help support reproductive health. The study found that the infection led to increased levels of inflammatory markers and decreased expression of proteins crucial for the structure of the uterus. This suggests that leptospirosis can significantly impact a dog's reproductive system, potentially leading to complications like abortion or weak puppies. Treatment options for affected dogs would likely focus on managing the infection and its inflammatory effects.
People also search for: dog leptospirosis symptoms · dog abortion causes · dog uterine infection treatment
Abstract
Leptospira interrogans (L. interrogans), a worldwide zoonosis, infect humans and animals. In dogs, four syndromes caused by leptospirosis have been identified: icteric, hemorrhagic, uremic (Stuttgart disease) and reproductive (abortion and premature or weak pups), and also it caused inflammation. Extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex mixture of matrix molecules that is crucial to the reproduction. Both inflammatory response and ECM are closed relative to reproductive. The aim of this study was to clarify how L. interrogans affected the uterus of dogs, by focusing on the inflammatory responses, and ECM expression in dogs uterine tissue infected by L. interrogans. In the present study, 27 dogs were divided into 3 groups, intrauterine infusion with L. interrogans, to make uterine infection, sterile EMJH, and normal saline as a control, respectively. The uteruses were removed by surgical operation in 10, 20, and 30 days, respectively. The methods of histopathological analysis, ELISA, Western blot and qPCR were used. The results showed that L. interrogans induced significantly inflammatory responses, which were characterized by inflammatory cellular infiltration and high expression levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in uterine tissue of these dogs. Furthermore, L. interrogans strongly down-regulated the expression of ECM (collagens (CL) IV, fibronectins (FN) and laminins (LN)) in mRNA and protein levels. These data indicated that strongly inflammatory responses, and abnormal regulation of ECM might contribute to the proliferation of dogs infected by L. interrogans.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25153777/