Coxiella burnetii in Infertile Dairy Cattle With Chronic Endometritis

Authors

Davide De Biase, 1 Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Alessandro Costagliola, 1 Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Fabio Del Piero, 2 Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Rossella Di Palo, 1 Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Domenico Coronati, 3 Veterinary Practitioner, Caserta, Italy.
Giorgio Galiero, 4 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Portici, Naples, Italy.
Barbara Degli Uberti, 4 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Portici, Naples, Italy.
Maria Gabriella Lucibelli, 4 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Portici, Naples, Italy.
Annalisa Fabbiano, 1 Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Bernard Davoust, 5 Unité de Recherce sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE) Aix-Marseille Université, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
Didier Raoult, 5 Unité de Recherce sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE) Aix-Marseille Université, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
Orlando Paciello, 1 Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1-2018

Abstract

Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular pathogen and the cause of Q fever in many animal species and humans. Several studies have reported the association between C. burnetii and abortion, premature delivery, stillbirth, and weak offspring. However, no solid evidence indicates that C. burnetii causes endometritis, subfertility, and retained fetal membranes. For this study, histopathological and PCR evaluation were performed on 40 uterine biopsies from dairy cattle with poor fertility. Uterine swabs were concurrently tested with microbiology assays. The endometrial biopsies of 30 cows did not have any significant lesions, and no pathogens were identified by aerobic bacterial culture and PCR. Ten cows were PCR-positive for C. burnetii and negative for other pathogens by aerobic bacterial culture and PCR. These 10 cases revealed a mild to severe chronic endometritis admixed with perivascular and periglandular fibrosis. Immunohistochemical evaluation of C. burnetii PCR-positive biopsies identified, for the first time, the presence of intralesional and intracytoplasmic C. burnetii in macrophages in the endometrium of cattle.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Veterinary pathology

First Page

539

Last Page

542

Recommended Citation

De Biase, D., Costagliola, A., Del Piero, F., Di Palo, R., Coronati, D., Galiero, G., Uberti, B. D., Lucibelli, M. G., Fabbiano, A., Davoust, B., Raoult, D., & Paciello, O. (2018). Coxiella burnetii in Infertile Dairy Cattle With Chronic Endometritis. Veterinary pathology, 55 (4), 539-542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0300985818760376