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PubMed2005

Prevalence of Taylorella equigenitalis infection in stallions in Slovenia: bacteriology compared with PCR examination.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: The prevalence of Taylorella equigenitalis infection in Slovenia is unknown and methods used to refine identification in these stallions are required. HYPOTHESIS: In diagnosis of T. equigenitalis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) would have advantages over culture methods, especially in cases where small numbers of causal agent or intensive contamination of genital swabs are involved. METHODS: Culture method and PCR were used to examine a total of 980 genital swabs from the urethra and fossa urethralis of 245 stallions for the presence of the contagious equine metritis organism. RESULTS: Among 245 examined stallions, 225 (91.8%) were negative to T. equigenitalis by both methods. From the swabs of 17 stallions (6.9%) T. equigenitalis was isolated at first and/or second sampling. Swabs of 3 (13%) stallions were PCR positive but the isolation of T. equigenitalis failed. The rate of T. equigenitalis detection was higher with PCR than with the classic bacteriological examination. CONCLUSIONS AND POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: PCR protocol used in this study provided a specific, sensitive, and simple tool for rapid detection of T. equigenitalis. PCR is especially valuable in cases of intensive bacterial and fungal contamination of swabs where the isolation of T. equigenitalis usually fails.

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PubMed2003

Postnatal hypothyroidism does not affect prepubertal testis development in boars.

Young boars were treated with propiothiouracil to induce hypothyroidism to examine its effects on postnatal testicular development. Treatments with 0.1% 4-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) in drinking water started after weaning, at 3 weeks of age and all boars were severely hypothyroid at 6 weeks of age as determined by measuring T3 and T4 in blood plasma. Boars were castrated at different ages up to 20 weeks and their testes used for histological and immunohistochemical analyses. Although small but significant reduction in testis weight was observed from 8 to 12 weeks of age, this was not accompanied by significant difference in testicular volume. By 20 weeks of age, at the beginning of puberty, the differences in testis weights between control and treated groups of boars disappeared suggesting there is no lasting effect of hypothyroidism on postnatal development of boar testis. Immunohistochemical staining was used to determine the presence of molecular markers in both Sertoli and Leydig cells. Again, there were no differences between testes from control and treated boars in the pattern or intensity of immunostaining using antibodies against 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, antimullerian hormone or proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Immunostaining with antibodies against PCNA showed interesting results as it was observed that Sertoli cells still express this marker of proliferating cells at 14 weeks of age, later than previously suggested cessation of Sertoli cell proliferation. This study suggests that hypothyroidism in boars does not have similar effects on postnatal testis development as reported in some other species.

Animals↗