Journal article
Infection of Immunodeficient Horses with Sarcocystis neurona Does Not Result in Neurologic Disease
Clinical and diagnostic laboratory immunology, Vol.11(6), pp.1134-1139
11/2004
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/112519
PMCID: PMC524751
PMID: 15539518
Abstract
Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis is a progressive neurologic disease of horses most commonly caused by infection with the apicomplexan parasite
Sarcocystis neurona
. Factors affecting neuroinvasion and neurovirulence have not been determined. We investigated the pathogenesis of infection with
S. neurona
in horses with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID). Two immunocompetent (IC) Arabian horses and two Arabian horses with SCID were infected orally with 5 × 10
5
sporocysts of
S. neurona
. Four IC horses and one SCID horse were infected intravenously (i.v.) with 5 × 10
8
merozoites of the WSU-1 isolate of
S. neurona
. Despite prolonged parasitemia and persistent infection of visceral tissues (skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, lung, liver, and spleen) as demonstrated by PCR and culture, SCID horses did not develop neurologic signs after oral or i.v. infection.
S. neurona
was undetectable in the neuronal tissues of SCID horses by either PCR, immunohistochemistry, or culture. In contrast, although parasitemia was undetectable in orally infected IC horses and of only short duration in i.v. infected IC horses, four of six IC horses developed neurologic signs.
S. neurona
was detectable by PCR and/or culture of neural tissue but not visceral tissue of IC horses with neurologic disease. Infected SCID horses are unable to clear
S. neurona
from visceral tissues, but the infection does not result in neurologic signs; in contrast, IC horses rapidly control parasitemia and infection of visceral tissues but frequently experience neuroinvasion and exhibit clinical signs of neurologic disease.
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Details
- Title
- Infection of Immunodeficient Horses with Sarcocystis neurona Does Not Result in Neurologic Disease
- Creators
- Debra C Sellon - Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesDonald P Knowles - Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesEllis C Greiner - Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesMaureen T Long - Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesMelissa T Hines - Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesTressa Hochstatter - Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesAhmed Tibary - Department of Veterinary Clinical SciencesJohn B Dame - Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
- Publication Details
- Clinical and diagnostic laboratory immunology, Vol.11(6), pp.1134-1139
- Academic Unit
- Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Department of; Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Department of
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- Identifiers
- 99900548065001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article