Pathological characteristics and congenital immunological responses of pigeons-infected with Neospora caninum

Yuxiao Qian; Yuqian Jiang; Hongrong Hong; Xinxin Gao; Wei Liu; Meiyi Chen; Qinqin Jin; Zha Jin; Xin Li; Xiaocen Wang; Jianhua Li; Quan Liu; Xichen Zhang; Nan Zhang; Zhengkai Wei

doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106224

Pathological characteristics and congenital immunological responses of pigeons-infected with Neospora caninum

Microb Pathog. 2023 Sep:182:106224. doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106224. Epub 2023 Jul 7.

Authors

Yuxiao Qian¹, Yuqian Jiang¹, Hongrong Hong¹, Xinxin Gao¹, Wei Liu¹, Meiyi Chen¹, Qinqin Jin¹, Zha Jin¹, Xin Li², Xiaocen Wang², Jianhua Li², Quan Liu¹, Xichen Zhang², Nan Zhang³, Zhengkai Wei⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Life Sciences and Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, 528225, Guangdong Province, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, 5333 Xian Road, Changchun, 130062, Jilin, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, 5333 Xian Road, Changchun, 130062, Jilin, China. Electronic address: n_zhang@jlu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Life Sciences and Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, 528225, Guangdong Province, PR China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China. Electronic address: wei_zhengkai@126.com.

PMID: 37423494
DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106224

Abstract

Pigeons are natural intermediate host of Neospora caninum (N. caninum). In comparison to ruminants, N. caninum causes milder clinical symptoms and less financial loss to pigeons. Natural infectious rates and high prevalence of N. caninum in pigeons, and death cases of N. caninum-infected pigeons under experimental conditions have been reported, but the detailed pathological characteristics and congenital immunological responses of pigeons-infected with N. caninum remain not well described. In this study, pigeons were infected intraperitoneally with 10⁷ N. caninum tachyzoites. N. caninum in tissues was detected by qPCR. Pathological changes of tissues were examined by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Blood smears were prepared for counting eosinophils changes in blood. Heterophil extracellular traps (HETs) in vivo and in vitro were quantified by Pico Green. N. caninum-induced HETs structures were observed by immunofluorescence staining. The model of pigeons-infected with N. caninum was successfully established. Lung and duodenum were the main target organs of pigeons-infected with N. caninum. N. caninum caused hemorrhage, edema and inflammatory cell infiltration in liver, pulmonary congestion and hemorrhage, organizational destruction in lung, and shorter villi or even disappear in duodenum. N. caninum also increased the number of eosinophils in blood of pigeons. Moreover, N. caninum-induced HETs release in the congenital immunological system of pigeons were first demonstrated, and the HETs structures were consisted of DNA as the skeleton and modified with citH3 and elastase. N. caninum-induced HETs release was related with NADPH oxidase, TLR 2 and 4, ERK_1/2 and p38 MAPK signaling pathways, and glycolysis. In summary, it is the first report on the detailed pathological characteristics and congenital immunological responses of pigeons-infected with N. caninum, which may provide theoretical basis for the prevention and control of Neosporosis in pigeons.

Keywords: Heterophil extracellular traps; Neospora caninum; Pathology; Pigeon; SEM.

MeSH terms

Animals
Coccidiosis* / veterinary
Columbidae
Extracellular Traps*
Neospora*
Neutrophils