Open AccessMolecular Prevalence of B artonella, B abesia , and Hemotropic M ycoplasma sp. in Dogs with Splenic Disease
Author(s) -
Varanat M.,
Maggi R.G.,
Linder K.E.,
Breitschwerdt E.B.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of veterinary internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.356
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1939-1676
pISSN - 0891-6640
DOI - 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.00811.x
Subject(s) - bartonella , mycoplasma , virology , spleen , microbiology and biotechnology , polymerase chain reaction , medicine , biology , immunology , gene , biochemistry
Background Among diseases that cause splenomegaly in dogs, lymphoid nodular hyperplasia ( LNH ), splenic hemangiosarcoma ( HSA ), and fibrohistiocytic nodules ( FHN ) are common diagnoses. The spleen plays an important role in the immunologic control or elimination of vector‐transmitted, blood‐borne pathogens, including B artonella sp., B abesia sp., and hemotropic M ycoplasma sp. Objective To compare the prevalence of B artonella sp. , B abesia sp., and hemotropic M ycoplasma sp. DNA in spleens from dogs with LNH, HSA , and FHN . Materials and Methods Paraffin‐embedded, surgically obtained biopsy tissues from LNH (N = 50), HSA (N = 50), and FHN (N = 37) were collected from the anatomic pathology archives. Spleens from specific pathogen‐free ( SPF ) dogs (N = 8) were used as controls. B artonella sp., B abesia sp., and M ycoplasma sp. DNA was amplified by PCR , followed by DNA sequencing. Results B artonella sp. DNA was more prevalent in FHN (29.7%) and HSA (26%) as compared to LNH (10%) ( P = .019, .0373, respectively) or control spleens (0.0%). The prevalence of B abesia sp. and hemotropic M ycoplasma sp. DNA was significantly lower than B artonella sp. DNA in HSA ( P = .0005, .006, respectively) and FHN ( P = .003, .0004, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference in DNA prevalence among the 3 genera in the LNH group. Conclusions The higher prevalence of B artonella sp. in FHN and HSA warrants future investigations to determine if this bacterium plays a role in the development of these splenic diseases.