Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Immune response differences in liver and spleen of dogs with visceral
By Sanchez, Martin A et al.·Published in The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene·2004·Laboratorio de Biologia Molecular·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Organ-specific immunity in canine visceral leishmaniasis: analysis of symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs naturally infected with Leishmania chagasi.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs in Venezuela were studied to understand how their immune systems responded to a parasite called Leishmania chagasi, which causes leishmaniasis. Some dogs showed symptoms like weight loss and skin lesions, while others appeared healthy. The sick dogs had a higher number of parasites in their livers and spleens, and their immune response was less organized compared to the healthy dogs, who had effective immune defenses in their livers. This research highlights the differences in immune responses between symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs infected with this parasite.
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Abstract
We characterized key leukocyte immunophenotypes in the liver and spleen of naturally infected dogs from an area in Venezuela endemic for leishmaniasis. Dogs were classified as symptomatic or asymptomatic after serologic and physical analysis. Symptomatic dogs showed a higher parasite burden in the liver and spleen than asymptomatic dogs. The livers of asymptomatic dogs showed an effective immunity with well-organized granulomas walling off parasites in an environment of central memory CD44(lo), CD45RO(hi), activated effector CD44(hi), and CD45RO(hi) T cells. These granulomas also had many major histocompatibility class II+ cells and CD11c+ dendritic cells, and cells expressing CD18 and CD44. In contrast, symptomatic livers showed a non-organized and non-effective infiltrate composed of T cells and heavily parasitized Kupffer cells and a diminished expression of activation molecules. In the spleen, the immune responses of symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs were very similar. The results showed a distinct immune response against Leishmania chagasi in target organs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15211002/