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Biomedical subjects

H C Walvoort

Publications and source records attributed to H C Walvoort.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Construction and analysis of Bordetella pertussis mutants defective in the production of fimbriae.

Although the role of fimbriae in bacterial disease has been well established, little is known about the function of Bordetella pertussis fimbriae. To study this function, well-defined fimbrial mutants were constructed. B. pertussis harbours three fimbrial genes, fim2, fim3 and fimX, and strains were constructed in which one or more fimbrial genes were inactivated by means of gene replacement. Analysis of these strains by means of immunoblotting suggested the presence of a fourth fimbrial gene, tentatively designated fimY. A fimbrial mutant was analysed in a mouse respiratory infection model, together with a strain harbouring a deletion in the gene for the filamentous haemagglutinin. Both mutants were affected in their ability to persist in the trachea. Persistence in the nasopharynx was only affected by the mutation in the filamentous haemagglutinin gene. Neither the filamentous haemagglutinin nor the fimbrial mutants were affected in their ability to persist in the lung. Our results suggest that the filamentous haemagglutinin plays a more crucial role than fimbriae in the colonization of the upper respiratory tract of the mouse.

Animals

Histological changes in the orbital region of rats after orbital puncture.

To contribute to the assessment of the degree of discomfort in rats after orbital puncture, we have examined the histological changes in the intraorbital tissues caused by this technique of blood sampling. Orbits were studied from rats euthanized either within 1 min, 4 days, 28 days or 56 days after puncture while under diethyl-ether anaesthesia. The techniques of 2 animal technicians were compared, one using a broken haematocrit capillary and the other using an intact Pasteur's pipette. Non-punctured orbits served as controls. Microscopic slides containing the eye in situ at 2 horizontal levels in the orbital region were examined for 37 parameters; the slides were scored blind and in random order. Orbital puncture caused haemorrhages in the puncture track and, depending on the technique used, also in the periosteum. Four days after puncture, inflammatory reactions were present in the puncture track. Depending on the technique of puncture, these reactions were also seen in the eye muscles and periosteum or in the Harderian gland. Within 4 weeks after puncture, the lesions had healed without detectable scars. The different histological effects of the 2 techniques of orbital puncture are discussed in the light of the characteristics of these techniques.

Animals

Acellular and whole cell pertussis vaccines protect against the lethal effects of intracerebral challenge by two different T-cell dependent humoral routes.

Athymic (nu/nu) and euthymic (+/nu) BALB/c mice were immunized with a whole cell pertussis vaccine or with an acellular vaccine which contained detoxified pertussis toxin (PT) and filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA). Only the euthymic mice were protected against intracerebral challenge with virulent Bordetella pertussis which implies involvement of T-cells. As a cell transfer from mice immunized with whole cell or acellular vaccine prior to the challenge did not protect naive euthymic recipients, cellular immunity seems to be non-protective as an effector mechanism. Mice could be protected passively against a challenge by administration of immune sera. Therefore, T-cell dependent humoral immune responses to B. pertussis appear to be crucial for protection. The humoral response was further studied with athymic and euthymic mice. In euthymic mice the whole cell vaccine induced antibodies to FHA, pililipopolysaccharides (LPS) and an outer membrane protein (OMP) preparation, whereas the acellular vaccine induced antibodies to PT, FHA and OMP. Both IgM and IgG could be detected. From the nude mice only those immunized with the whole cell vaccine showed an antibody response which consisted of low titres of IgM directed to LPS. Sera from both +/nu and nu/nu mice immunized with the whole cell vaccine were bactericidal in vitro. These data demonstrate that in the mouse model protection to intracerebral challenge with B. pertussis is T-cell dependent as is the humoral response to PT, FHA, OMP and pili. The T-independent B-cell activation by the whole cell preparation is due to the presence of LPS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Seroreactivity of patients with Crohn's disease with lymph nodes of primed nude mice is independent of the tissue used for priming.

Athymic nude mice, injected with a cell-free filtrate of intestinal tissue from patients with Crohn's disease, have been shown to express antigens in their lymph nodes to which sera from patients with Crohn's disease contain antibodies. In the present study, immune reactivity was assessed with a histochemical indirect immunoperoxidase assay on paraplast-embedded tissue sections. The reactive lymph node cells were identified as sinus macrophages. We confirmed earlier findings of immunofluorescence studies that the reaction showed some antibody specificity, the proportion of patients with Crohn's disease who were positive (84%) being higher than of patients with ulcerative colitis (29%). However, reactivity of Crohn's disease sera was found to be antigen nonspecific, as it was equally observed with lymph nodes of mice primed with saline or with homogenates from patients with ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, or volvulus. Hence, this nude mouse model does not seem appropriate to identify a transmissible etiology of Crohn's disease.

Animals

In vitro induction of antigen specific antibody synthesis and proliferation of T lymphocytes with acellular pertussis vaccines, pertussis toxin and filamentous haemagglutinin in humans.

The in vitro response of human B- and T-lymphocytes to the acellular vaccines JNIH-6 (containing pertussis toxoid and filamentous hemagglutinin), and JNIH-7 (containing pertussis toxoid), and to the purified components JNIH-4 (filamentous hemagglutinin) and JNIH-5 (pertussis toxin) was investigated. Pertussis toxoid and filamentous hemagglutinin induced specific Ig synthesis in vitro in lymphocytes obtained from convalescent pertussis patients as target cells. The antigen-dependent Ig production was demonstrated in lymphocyte culture supernatants by ELISA techniques and by a chinese hamster ovary cell toxin neutralization assay. Particularly with JNIH-4, -6 and -7, high antibody titers were obtained. At optimal antigen concentrations a marked lymphocyte blast transformation was found in lymphocyte cultures from whooping cough patients, but not in cultures of lymphocytes obtained from healthy volunteers. At high concentrations native pertussis toxin as well as the B oligomer (S2-5) of the toxin induced a strong proliferation of patient as well as control lymphocytes, indicating non-specific mitogenic activity. At lower concentrations lymphocyte blast transformation was seen in patient cultures only, which indicates an antigen-specific T-cell response. The A protomer (S1), dimer 1 (S2 + 4) and dimer 2 (S3 + 4) induced proliferation of patient lymphocytes, which demonstrates the presence of T-cell epitopes on these peptides. The in vitro B-cell response and the lymphocyte blast transformation assay are both useful tools for estimating the potency of acellular pertussis vaccines in man. Spontaneously acquired and vaccine induced immunity to Bordetella pertussis can be investigated at the level of B- and T-lymphocytes.

Antibody Formation

Vaccination of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) against phocid distemper with two different inactivated canine distemper virus (CDV) vaccines.

Two inactivated canine distemper virus (CDV) vaccines--an adjuvanted whole inactivated virus and a subunit ISCOM preparation--were tested for their ability to induce protective immunity in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) against phocid distemper, a disease that recently killed greater than 17,000 harbour seals in the North and Baltic seas, and was shown to be caused by infection with a newly discovered morbillivirus, which is antigenically closely related to CDV. Four CDV seronegative harbour seals were vaccinated three times with the whole-virus vaccine, two with the ISCOM subunit vaccine and two were sham-vaccinated with an antigen-free preparation. Ten days after the last vaccination, when all six vaccinated animals had developed CDV neutralizing antibody titres ranging from 300 to 3000, all eight animals were challenged by the oculonasal and the peritoneal routes, with an organ suspension from dead seals. None of the six vaccinated animals developed clinical signs. The two sham-vaccinated seals died on days 14 and 18, respectively, after having shown a body temperature rise, respiratory symptoms and weight loss. In organs from both dead animals morbillivirus antigen was demonstrated with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and an immunofluorescence assay. One of these two animals had developed a low titre of CDV-specific antibodies just before death. These data clearly indicate that seals can be protected from fatal challenge with the phocid distemper virus (PDV), by vaccination with certain inactivated CDV vaccines. They also reconfirm that infection with PDV should be considered the primary cause of the recent epizootic in seals.

Animals

Clostridium difficile-associated typhlitis in specific pathogen free guineapigs in the absence of antimicrobial treatment.

Clostridium difficile (toxin) associated typhlitis was diagnosed in untreated barrier-maintained specific pathogen free guineapigs. It resembled the pathological lesions of antibiotic induced enterocolitis. The possible role of limited colonization resistance to C. difficile provided by mouse enteric microflora in the pathogenesis of the disease is discussed.

Animals

Intravesical BCG administration in the guinea pig. A histomorphological study.

Intravesical BCG administration is used as an adjuvant therapy after transurethral resection for superficial bladder cancer in man. The mechanisms of its antitumor activity are not known. The aim of this study was to characterize the histomorphological changes in various organs of the guinea pig after intravesical BCG administration. The BCG preparation used was BCG-RIVM, a Dutch BCG preparation. Instillations were performed in previously undamaged bladders weekly for 6 consecutive weeks and lasted 30 min or 1 h. Different doses were used ranging from 10(3) culturable particles (c.p.) to 5 x 10(7) c.p. of BCG. After 6 weeks, the animals were killed and postmortem examination was performed. The bladder wall, retroperitoneal lymph nodes, spleen, liver, lungs and distant lymph nodes were examined histologically. The BCG therapy, with a dose of 10(6) culturable particles and higher, induced an inflammatory reaction consisting of mononuclear infiltrates in the subepithelial tissue of the bladder wall. In approximately 50% of the animals investigated, the infiltrates were accompanied by non-caseating granulomatous lesions indicated by the presence of epithelioid cells. In general, the epithelial layer of the bladder showed no visible alterations. Similarly, a granulomatous inflammatory reaction was observed in the first retroperitoneal (iliac) lymph nodes draining the bladder. Granulomatous lesions were occasionally also present in liver and lung. In three of the 29 animals investigated, lesions were present both in liver and lungs, and in two of these three animals a granulomatous reaction was observed in the spleen and distant lymph nodes indicating a generalized inflammatory response induced by BCG.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Effects of ozone on the defense to a respiratory Listeria monocytogenes infection in the rat. Suppression of macrophage function and cellular immunity and aggravation of histopathology in lung and liver during infection.

We have investigated the effect of exposure to ozone on defense mechanisms to a respiratory infection with Listeria monocytogenes in the rat. For this purpose rats were continuously exposed to O3 concentrations ranging from 0.25 to 2.0 mg/m3 for a period of 1 week. In this model defense to a respiratory infection with Listeria depends on acquired specific cellular immune responses, as well as on natural nonspecific defense mechanisms. The results confirm earlier findings that show that ozone exposure can suppress the capacity of macrophages to ingest and kill Listeria. Moreover, the results show that ozone can also have a suppressive effect on the development of cellular immune responses to a respiratory Listeria infection, i.e., on T/B ratios in lung draining lymph nodes, delayed-type hypersensitivity responses to Listeria antigen, and lymphoproliferative responses in spleen and lung draining lymph nodes to Listeria antigen. The effects on the specific immune responses are especially overt if exposure to the oxidant gas occurs during an ongoing primary infection. The pathological lesions induced by a pulmonary Listeria monocytogenes infection were characterized by multifocal infiltrates of histiocytic and lymphoid cells. The foci sometimes had a granulomatous appearance. Moreover, the cellularity of the interstitial tissues was increased. In the lung many diffuse alveolar macrophages could be seen in the alveoli. Ozone exposure greatly increased the severity of the lung lesions and also of liver lesions resulting from the pulmonary infection. A prominent finding was the formation of granulomas in ozone-exposed and Listeria-infected rats. This increased severity of the lesions after ozone exposure and subsequent infection with Listeria was presumably not a result of additive ozone and Listeria-induced lesions, but rather an effect of ozone-induced impaired clearance of the bacteria, caused by depressed macrophage activity and cellular immunity. T-cell-dependent immune responses form an important component of defense to respiratory infections with bacteria and viruses, and possibly also to neoplasms. Since our study unequivocally shows an effect on T-cell-dependent immunity, ozone exposure has to be judged potentially hazardous with respect to such challenges of the lung.

Animals

[Polyarteritis nodosa].

With reference to sixteen cases of polyarteritis nodosa (seven dogs, two cats, two goats, three pigs, two cattle), current views regarding classification, aetiology and pathogenesis of this disease are discussed. Polyartertis nodosa is not a disease entity, but rather a symptom that may be associated with various forms of disease and may vary in pathogenesis. The clinical picture depends upon the localisation of the vasculitis. Toxic agents and various viruses may be directly responsible for the vascular lesions. In addition, genetic, autoimmune and allergic factors may be implicated. The immunological pathogenesis is illustrated with reference to the serum sickness model.

Animals

Seropositivity in Dutch Crohn's disease patients against primed nude mouse lymph nodes, and the difference with lymphocytotoxic antibodies.

Sera from patients with Crohn's disease have been reported to show positive immunofluorescence with lymph nodes of nude mice primed with a filtrate of intestinal tissue affected with Crohn's disease. An indirect immunofluorescence assay was used to test sera of 63 unrelated patients with Crohn's disease, 21 with ulcerative colitis and 36 control subjects against lymph nodes of athymic nude (nu/nu) mice which had been injected with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis intestinal tissue filtrates. Forty nine per cent of Crohn's disease patients, 10% of ulcerative colitis patients and 3% of control sera reacted against lymph nodes of mice injected injected with ulcerative colitis intestinal tissue filtrates, 18% of Crohn's disease sera were with intestinal tissue homogenate from Dutch Crohn's patients. With the lymph nodes of mice injected with ulcerative colitis intestinal tissue filtrates, 18% of Crohn's disease sera were positive, whereas all ulcerative colitis and control sera were negative. Lymph nodes from 18 of the 19 mice injected with Crohn's disease tissue filtrates reacted with Crohn's disease sera, whereas only three of these 19 mice reacted with ulcerative colitis sera. A comparative study, carried out in parallel with Crohn's disease filtrate induced hyperplastic lymph nodes from the Bilthoven colony (W2) and from the New York colony (E671) using sera from 54 Crohn's disease patients from Leiden, showed immunoreactivity with 44 and 57% of the Crohn's disease sera against the two hyperplastic lymph nodes. Thirty six of the 54 Crohn's disease sera (67%) reacted with either or both lymph nodes. Only 11% of the Crohn's disease sera which were examined for immunofluorescence and lymphocytotoxic antibodies had lymphocytotoxic antibodies, whereas 40% and 46% of the same sera showed positive immunofluorescence against E671 and W2, respectively. Absorption studies indicated that lymphocytotoxic antibodies activity and the immunofluorescence against the primed nude mouse lymph node are mediated by different serum antibodies in Crohn's disease. The reproducibility of the nude mouse immunofluorescence test system for a preferential immunoreactivity of Crohn's disease sera against Crohn's disease tissue primed murine lymph nodes has been confirmed by the present study. Further studies are necessary to find out whether crossreactive antigen(s) as recognised by some of the Crohn's disease sera in mice injected with ulcerative colitis tissue filtrate is similar to the antigen(s) detected by Crohn's disease sera in mice injected with Crohn's disease tissue filtrates.

Absorption

Contribution of pathology to laboratory animal welfare.

To promote experimental animal welfare, several countries are engaged in establishing local animal research review committees and appointing supervising veterinarians or other experts. However, a number of adverse conditions leading to intercurrent illness or death remains unnoticed or unidentified. Pathological investigation of unexpectedly ill or dead animals proved to be very useful in indicating conditions compromising animal welfare. In addition, such post-mortem findings may be instructive, with respect to welfare, for those involved in experiments with animals.

Animal Welfare

Otitis media in guinea pigs: pathology and bacteriology.

In the course of post-mortem examination of conventional random-bred and inbred (immunosuppressed) strain 2/N guineapigs kept in separate quarters, otitis media was diagnosed in 62 of 462 animals (13.4%) and 18 of 66 animals (27.3%) respectively. Clinical signs of otitis media were seen in only two random-bred animals but in nearly 50% of affected inbred animals. In random-bred guineapigs, purulent, often bilateral, otitis media was associated mainly with the isolation of Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Pasteurella and Actinobacillus spp. and micrococci. In strain 2/N guineapigs serous or purulent often bilateral otitis media was associated mainly with the isolation of B. bronchiseptica and Pseudomonas aeruginosa serotypes 10 and 11. The simultaneous occurrence of similar pathogenic bacteria in both ears of bilaterally affected animals and in pneumonic lung tissue (in random-bred animals) suggested ascending and descending infection originating from the upper respiratory tract. It is concluded that otitis media, associated with the isolation of a variety of respiratory bacterial species, must be considered a major disease problem in guineapigs.

Animals

Opportunistic infections in hysterectomy-derived, barrier-maintained guinea pigs.

Guineapigs were rederived by hysterectomy and associated with a colonization-resistant enteric microflora (CRF) of mouse origin to establish a strict barrier-maintained breeding colony. Infections were suspected in 55 of 209 animals autopsied. From 65 of 67 tissue samples selected for bacteriological examination 167 isolates, belonging to 16 usually non-pathogenic bacterial species or groups, were isolated mostly from cases of mastitis, typhlitis, enteritis, otitis media and pneumonia. Faecal streptococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Clostridium perfringens, Citrobacter spp., C. freundii, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca and Enterobacter cloacae accounted for 86.8% of all isolates. Variations in the recovery rate of these 8 species during the study and a gradual decline in the incidence of infections were observed. Elimination by rederivation of the autochthonous bacterial flora seemed to have predisposed to opportunistic infections by aerobic and facultatively anaerobic bacteria. Enteric colonization resistance to the growth of these bacteria was presumably insufficiently provided by the CRF of mouse origin and might be remedied by using a flora of guineapig origin.

Animals

An outbreak of a herpesvirus infection in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina).

During an outbreak of a herpesvirus infection in juvenile harbor seals, 11 out of 23 seals died. The duration of the disease in these 11 animals varied from 1-6 days. Nasal discharge, inflammation of the oral mucosa, vomiting, diarrhea and fever up to 40 degrees C were observed in the first days of the disease. In later stages coughing, anorexia and lethargy occurred. Severe necrosis of the liver and interstitial pneumonia were the most striking histopathological findings.

Animals

Comparative pathology of the canine model of glycogen storage disease type II (Pompe's disease).

The pathology of canine glycogen storage disease type II (acid alpha-glucosidase deficiency, GSD II) was studied in three genetically related Lapland dogs and compared to the pathology of human GSD II (McKusick 23230). Canine GSD II closely parallels the infantile form of the human disease, except for the presence of oesophageal dilatation. Generalized glycogen storage particularly affected muscular tissues (skeletal, oesophageal, cardiac and smooth muscle). The altered cells showed glycogen accumulation in the cytosol and in autophagic membrane-bound vacuoles (glycogenosomes). They also showed increased acid phosphatase activity consistent with the lysosomal nature of this storage disorder. The cytopathology in canine and human GSD II appears to evolve from segregation of glycogen during regular cellular autophagy, phagolysosomal accumulation of the undigested glycogen, and eventually rupture of distended glycogenosomes. This study indicates that the usefulness of canine GSD II as an animal model of human disease, extends to the area of pathogenesis.

Acid Phosphatase