In vitro invasion efficiency and intracellular proliferation rate comprise virulence-related phenotypic traits of Neospora caninum

In this study, we examined the in vitro invasion and proliferation capacities of the Nc-Liv and ten Spanish Neospora caninum isolates (Nc-Spain 1 H - Nc-Spain 10). The invasion rate was determined as the number of tachyzoites that completed their internalisation into MARC-145 cells at 2, 4, and 6 h post-inoculation (pi). The proliferation rate was evaluated by determining the doubling time during the exponential proliferation period. Significant differences in the invasion rates of these isolates were detected at 2 and 4 h pi (P < 0.0001, Kruskal-Wallis test). At 4 h pi, the Nc-Spain 4 H and Nc-Liv isolates displayed the highest, while the Nc-Spain 3 H and Nc-Spain 1 H isolates had the lowest invasion rates (by Dunn's test). Variations in the proliferation kinetics of these isolates were also observed. Between different isolates, the lag phase, which occurs before the exponential growth phase, ranged from 8 to 44 h, and the doubling time ranged from 9.8 to 14.1 h (P = 0.0016, ANOVA test). Tachyzoite yield, which combines invasion and proliferation data, was also assessed and confirmed marked differences between the highly and less prolific isolates. Interestingly, a direct correlation between the invasion rates and tachyzoite yields, and the severity of the disease that was exhibited by infected pregnant mice in previous works could be established for the isolates in this study (Spearman's coefficient > 0.62, P < 0.05). The results of this study may help us to explain the differences in the pathogenicity that are displayed by different isolates

Endogenous transplacental transmission of Neospora caninum during successive pregnancies across three generations of naturally infected sheep

[EN] Endogenous transplacental transmission, which occurs during pregnancy as the result of reactivation of a latent infection in the dam, is the main mechanism of propagation of Neospora caninum within cattle herds. However, the importance of this propagation mechanism has not yet been evaluated in relation to ovine neosporosis. In this study, involving three generations of ewes naturally infected by N. caninum, we demonstrated that endogenous transplacental transmission may also be highly efficient in the ovine host since transmission of infection occurred in 96.6% of gestations and the congenital infection rate ranged between 66.7 and 93%. Nevertheless, parasite burdens decreased gradually in consecutive generations. Reactivation of latent infections had a strong impact on the pregnancy outcome, with high mortality rates recorded in the offspring of the two first generations of ewes (21.4-46.1%). Histological examination of the brain revealed that all aborted foetuses had characteristic lesions of neosporosis (necrotic glial foci) and a few parasite cysts, whereas most stillborn and newborn lambs that died shortly after birth had non-specific lesions (mild glial foci without necrosis) and parasite cysts were more frequent. Microsatellite analysis revealed scarce genetic variability in the N. caninum population, in accordance with a scenario in which infections were of a single origin and were exclusively maintained by clonal propagation through endogenous transplacental transmissionSIThe present study was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain (INIA project RTA2014-00013

Isolation and genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in Spanish sheep flocks

[EN] Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a major cause of abortion in small ruminants and presents a zoonotic risk when undercooked meat containing cysts is consumed. The aim of the present study was to investigate the genetic diversity among the T. gondii strains circulating in ovine livestock in Spain. Methods: Selected samples collected from abortion outbreaks due to toxoplasmosis (n = 31) and from chronically infected adult sheep at slaughterhouses (n = 50) in different Spanish regions were bioassayed in mice, aiming at parasite isolation. In addition, all original clinical samples and the resulting isolates were genotyped by multi-nested PCR-RFLP analysis of 11 molecular markers and by PCR-DNA sequencing of portions of the SAG3, GRA6 and GRA7 genes. Results: As a result, 30 isolates were obtained from 9 Spanish regions: 10 isolates from abortion-derived samples and 20 isolates from adult myocardial tissues. Overall, 3 genotypes were found: ToxoDB#3 (type II PRU variant) in 90% (27/30) of isolates, ToxoDB#2 (clonal type III) in 6.7% (2/30), and ToxoDB#1 (clonal type II) in 3.3% (1/30). When T. gondii-positive tissue samples (n = 151) were directly subjected to RFLP genotyping, complete restriction profiles were obtained for 33% of samples, and up to 98% of the specimens belonged to the type II PRU variant. A foetal brain showed a clonal type II pattern, and four specimens showed unexpected type I alleles at the SAG3 marker, including two foetal brains that showed I + II alleles as co-infection events. Amplicons of SAG3, GRA6 and GRA7 obtained from isolates and clinical samples were subjected to sequencing, allowing us to confirm RFLP results and to detect different single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Conclusions: The present study informed the existence of a predominant type II PRU variant genotype (ToxoDB#3) infecting domestic sheep in Spain, in both abortion cases and chronic infections in adults, coexisting with other clonal (ToxoDB#1 and ToxoDB#2), much less frequent genotypes, as well as polymorphic strains as revealed by clinical sample genotyping. The use of multilocus sequence typing aided in accurately estimating T. gondii intragenotype diversitySIThis research was supported by projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AGL2016-75935-C2-R) and the Community of Madrid (PLATESA2-CM-P2018/BAA-4370). MF and RC were funded by UCMSantander/ 2017 pre-doctoral grants, and PLATESA2 post-doctoral grants, respectively. CG was funded by DGAPA, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). RC, EC and LO are part of the TOXOSOURCES consortium, supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No. 773830: One Health European Joint Programm

Isolation and genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in Spanish sheep flocks

© The Author(s) 2020.[Background]: Toxoplasma gondii is a major cause of abortion in small ruminants and presents a zoonotic risk when undercooked meat containing cysts is consumed. The aim of the present study was to investigate the genetic diversity among the T. gondii strains circulating in ovine livestock in Spain.[Methods]: Selected samples collected from abortion outbreaks due to toxoplasmosis (n = 31) and from chronically infected adult sheep at slaughterhouses (n = 50) in different Spanish regions were bioassayed in mice, aiming at parasite isolation. In addition, all original clinical samples and the resulting isolates were genotyped by multi-nested PCR-RFLP analysis of 11 molecular markers and by PCR-DNA sequencing of portions of the SAG3, GRA6 and GRA7 genes.[Results]: As a result, 30 isolates were obtained from 9 Spanish regions: 10 isolates from abortion-derived samples and 20 isolates from adult myocardial tissues. Overall, 3 genotypes were found: ToxoDB#3 (type II PRU variant) in 90% (27/30) of isolates, ToxoDB#2 (clonal type III) in 6.7% (2/30), and ToxoDB#1 (clonal type II) in 3.3% (1/30). When T. gondii-positive tissue samples (n = 151) were directly subjected to RFLP genotyping, complete restriction profiles were obtained for 33% of samples, and up to 98% of the specimens belonged to the type II PRU variant. A foetal brain showed a clonal type II pattern, and four specimens showed unexpected type I alleles at the SAG3 marker, including two foetal brains that showed I + II alleles as co-infection events. Amplicons of SAG3, GRA6 and GRA7 obtained from isolates and clinical samples were subjected to sequencing, allowing us to confirm RFLP results and to detect different single-nucleotide polymorphisms.[Conclusions]: The present study informed the existence of a predominant type II PRU variant genotype (ToxoDB#3) infecting domestic sheep in Spain, in both abortion cases and chronic infections in adults, coexisting with other clonal (ToxoDB#1 and ToxoDB#2), much less frequent genotypes, as well as polymorphic strains as revealed by clinical sample genotyping. The use of multilocus sequence typing aided in accurately estimating T. gondii intragenotype diversity.This research was supported by projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AGL2016-75935-C2-R) and the Community of Madrid (PLATESA2-CM-P2018/BAA-4370). MF and RC were funded by UCM-Santander/2017 pre-doctoral grants, and PLATESA2 post-doctoral grants, respectively. CG was funded by DGAPA, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). RC, EC and LO are part of the TOXOSOURCES consortium, supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No. 773830: One Health European Joint Programme.Peer reviewe

Infección experimental por Toxoplasma gondii en el primer, segundo y último tercio de gestación en ovejas. Respuesta lesional y distribución del parásito

6 páginas.--Trabajo presentado al: XL Congreso Nacional y el XVI Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad Española de Ovinotecnia y Caprinotecnia. (Castellón de la Plana, España, 16-18 septiembre 2015).Peer Reviewe

Early Neospora caninum infection dynamics in cattle after inoculation at mid-gestation with high (Nc-Spain7)- or low (Nc-Spain1H)-virulence isolates

© The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.[EN] Early Neospora caninum infection dynamics were investigated in pregnant heifers intravenously inoculated with PBS (G-Control) or 107 tachyzoites of high (G-NcSpain7)- or low (G-NcSpain1H)-virulence isolates at 110 days of gestation. Serial culling at 10 and 20 days post-infection (dpi) was performed. Fever was detected at 1 dpi in both infected groups (P < 0.0001), and a second peak was detected at 3 dpi only in G-NcSpain7 (P < 0.0001). At 10 dpi, Nc-Spain7 was detected in placental samples from one animal related to focal necrosis, and Nc-Spain7 transmission was observed, although no foetal lesions were associated with this finding. The presence of Nc-Spain1H in the placenta or foetuses, as well as lesions, were not detected at 10 dpi. At 20 dpi, G-NcSpain7 animals showed almost 100% positive placental tissues and severe focal necrosis as well as 100% transmission. Remarkably, foetal mortality was detected in two G-NcSpain7 heifers. Only one animal from G-NcSpain1H presented positive placental samples. No foetal mortality was detected, and lesions and parasite transmission to the foetus were not observed in this group. Finally, 100% of G-NcSpain7 heifers at 20 dpi presented specific antibodies, while only 60% of G-NcSpain1H animals presented specific antibodies at 20 dpi. In addition, earlier seroconversion in G-Nc-Spain7 was observed. In conclusion, tachyzoites from Nc-Spain7 reached the placenta earlier and multiplied, leading to lesion development, transmission to the foetus and foetal mortality, whereas Nc-Spain1H showed delayed infection of the placenta and no lesional development or transmission during early infection.SIThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competi‑ tiveness (AGL2013-44694-R) and the Community of Madrid (PLATESA2-CM P2018/BAA-4370). Laura Jiménez-Pelayo was fnancially supported by a fellowship from the Complutense University of Madrid and Marta GarcíaSánchez was fnancially supported through a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BES-2014-070723). Patricia Vázquez had a Juan de la Cierva-Formación post-doctoral contract (FJCI-2014-20982) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). Alicia Román-Trufero was supported by a FPI-INIA fellowship from the Spanish National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Authors gratefully acknowledge to: (1) SERIDA (Regional Service of Agri-food Research and Development of Asturias) Institution and Personal for their facilities and personal support. Special thanks to David Iglesias for their clinical assistance; (2) Mountain Livestock Institute (IGM), University of León CSIC-ULE for their histopathological specialist support, especially to Miguel Fernández for his help during the sampling; (3) Saluvet Group members, especially to Ale‑ jandro Jiménez-Meléndez and Roberto Sánchez-Sánchez; (4) Saluvet-innova members, especially to Paula García-Luna

Infected Dendritic Cells Facilitate Systemic Dissemination and Transplacental Passage of the Obligate Intracellular Parasite Neospora caninum in Mice

The obligate intracellular parasite Neospora caninum disseminates across the placenta and the blood-brain barrier, to reach sites where it causes severe pathology or establishes chronic persistent infections. The mechanisms used by N. caninum to breach restrictive biological barriers remain elusive. To examine the cellular basis of these processes, migration of different N. caninum isolates (Nc-1, Nc-Liverpool, Nc-SweB1 and the Spanish isolates: Nc-Spain 3H, Nc-Spain 4H, Nc-Spain 6, Nc-Spain 7 and Nc-Spain 9) was studied in an in vitro model based on a placental trophoblast-derived BeWo cell line. Here, we describe that infection of dendritic cells (DC) by N. caninum tachyzoites potentiated translocation of parasites across polarized cellular monolayers. In addition, powered by the parasite's own gliding motility, extracellular N. caninum tachyzoites were able to transmigrate across cellular monolayers. Altogether, the presented data provides evidence of two putative complementary pathways utilized by N. caninum, in an isolate-specific fashion, for passage of restrictive cellular barriers. Interestingly, adoptive transfer of tachyzoite-infected DC in mice resulted in increased parasitic loads in various organs, e.g. the central nervous system, compared to infections with free parasites. Inoculation of pregnant mice with infected DC resulted in an accentuated vertical transmission to the offspring with increased parasitic loads and neonatal mortality. These findings reveal that N. caninum exploits the natural cell trafficking pathways in the host to cross cellular barriers and disseminate to deep tissues. The findings are indicative of conserved dissemination strategies among coccidian apicomplexan parasites

Analysis of local and peripheral immune response developed in sheep experimentally infected with Toxoplasma gondii at different times of gestation

Trabajo presentado al: 4th International Meeting on Apicomplexa in Farm Animals. (11-14 October 2017 - Madrid, Spain).Toxoplasmosis is one the main infectious causes of reproductive failure in sheep where the time of gestation when sheep are infected affects the clinical and lesional outcome of the disease. In order to investigate the variations of local and peripheral immune responses during gestation, pregnant sheep were infected at early, mid and late gestation and subsequently culled at 2, 3 and 4 weeks post infection. In those sheep inoculated during the second term, serological antibodies were detected earlier and the increase in serological γ-IFN was higher than in the other infected animals. Regarding the local immune response at the placenta, infiltration of inflammatory cells was mainly found in the maternal septa, although it also invaded foetal mesenchyme adjacent to the lesions. The increase in the number of T lymphocytes was observed only in ewes infected during the second and last terms of gestation while the increase of B cells occurred in sheep infected at the first and second terms. The expression of iba-1 antigen by macrophages was more frequent after infection during the first term whereas macrophages expressing lysozyme, CD163 or calprotectin were more frequent in infections at mid-gestation. A significant increase in the transcription of γ-IFN, when compared to control animals, occurred after infections in the first and second term, while TNF-α and IL-10 transcription increased only in the second and last term, respectively. There were no differences when comparing transcription of cytokines between animals infected at different terms of gestation. This study shows that the time of gestation when infection occurs has a clear influence over the pathogenesis of ovine toxoplasmosis as a greater inflammatory response was found after inoculating sheep at the second term of gestation. This finding may explain the later invasion of the placenta by the parasite at early and mid gestation described in previous studies.This study was founded by AGL2016-75935-C2-2-R and LE080U16 research grants.Peer Reviewe

Effects of challenge dose and inoculation route of the virulent Neospora caninum Nc-Spain7 isolate in pregnant cattle at mid-gestation

International audienceAbstractParameters such as pathogen dose and inoculation route are paramount in animal models when studying disease pathogenesis. Here, clinical findings, including foetal mortality, parasite transmission rates and lesion severity, and immune responses were evaluated in Asturiana pregnant heifers at day 110 of gestation challenged with a virulent (Nc-Spain7) Neospora caninum isolate. Four different doses of parasite tachyzoites were inoculated intravenously (IV1, 107 parasites, n = 6; IV2, 105, n = 6; IV3, 103, n = 6; and IV4, 102, n = 5), and the subcutaneous (SC) inoculation route was also assessed for the dose of 105 tachyzoites (SC, n = 6). In addition, a control group (n = 4 pregnant heifers) was evaluated. Foetal death was observed in all infected groups from 25 to 62 days post-infection, varying with the dose (IV1:4/6, IV2:3/6; IV4:2/5, IV3:1/6), and was three times less frequently associated with the SC route than IV inoculation (1/6 vs. 3/6). A dose-dependent effect for parasite loads in placental and foetal brain tissues was also detected. After SC challenge, a reduced number of tachyzoites were able to reach foetal brain tissues, and no lesions were observed. In calves, specific IgG responses in precolostral sera were mainly associated with high-dose groups (IV1 [100.0%] and IV2 [66.7%]), and cerebral parasite DNA detection was scarce (3/18). In dams, IFN-γ production and the dynamics of anti-N. caninum IgG antibodies varied with the dose, and the cell-mediated immune response was also found to be route-dependent. Our results confirm the influence of parasite dose and inoculation route on the outcome and dynamics of bovine neosporosis at mid-gestation