ABSTRACT
Abstract Routine microbiological monitoring of rodent colonies in animal facilities is essential to evaluate the health status of the animals used in research studies. In the present study, animals were examined for the presence of selected microbial infections. In order to determine the contamination rates of mice and rats in Argentina, animals from 102 conventional facilities were monitored from 2012 to 2016. The most frequent bacteria isolated were Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus spp. The common parasites identified were Syphacia spp. and Tritrichomonas spp. Serological assays demonstrated the highest prevalence for Mouse hepatitis virus in mice and Sialodacryoadenitis virus in rats. The results indicate that there is a high incidence of infections, so it is suggested that an efficient management system and effective sanitary barriers should be implemented in conventional facilities in Argentina in order to improve sanitary standards.
Resumen Los controles microbiológicos de rutina en colonias de roedores en bioterios son esenciales para evaluar el estado de salud de los animales que se utilizan en las investigaciones. En el presente estudio se examinaron animales de bioterios de Argentina con el objeto de detectar la presencia de infecciones microbianas seleccionadas. Con el fin de determinar los porcentajes de contaminaciones en estos individuos, se controlaron animales de 102 bioterios convencionales entre 2012 y 2016. Las bacterias más frecuentes aisladas fueron Pseudomonas aeruginosa y Proteus spp. Los parásitos comunes identificados fueron Syphacia spp. y Tritrichomonas spp. Los ensayos serológicos demostraron la mayor prevalencia del virus de hepatitis del ratón en ratones y del virus de la Syalodacryoadenitis en ratas. Los resultados indican que hay una alta incidencia de infecciones, por lo que se sugiere que se debe implementar un sistema de gestión eficiente y barreras sanitarias eficaces en instalaciones convencionales en Argentina con el objeto de mejorar los estándares sanitarios.
ABSTRACT
Routine microbiological monitoring of rodent colonies in animal facilities is essential to evaluate the health status of the animals used in research studies. In the present study, animals were examined for the presence of selected microbial infections. In order to determine the contamination rates of mice and rats in Argentina, animals from 102 conventional facilities were monitored from 2012 to 2016. The most frequent bacteria isolated were Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus spp. The common parasites identified were Syphacia spp. and Tritrichomonas spp. Serological assays demonstrated the highest prevalence for Mouse hepatitis virus in mice and Sialodacryoadenitis virus in rats. The results indicate that there is a high incidence of infections, so it is suggested that an efficient management system and effective sanitary barriers should be implemented in conventional facilities in Argentina in order to improve sanitary standards.
Subject(s)
Animal Diseases/microbiology , Animal Diseases/parasitology , Animals, Laboratory/microbiology , Animals, Laboratory/parasitology , Animal Diseases/epidemiology , Animals , Argentina , Bacterial Infections/epidemiology , Bacterial Infections/microbiology , Bacterial Infections/veterinary , Female , Incidence , Male , Mice , Parasitic Diseases/epidemiology , Parasitic Diseases/parasitology , Rats , Virus Diseases/epidemiology , Virus Diseases/veterinary , Virus Diseases/virologyABSTRACT
Whooping cough, which is caused by Bordetella pertussis and B. parapertussis, is a reemerging disease. New protective antigens are needed to improve the efficacy of current vaccines against both species. Using proteomic tools, it was here found that B. parapertussis expresses a homolog of AfuA, a previously reported new vaccine candidate against B. pertussis. It was found that this homolog, named AfuABpp , is expressed during B. parapertussis infection, exposed on the surface of the bacteria and recognized by specific antibodies induced by the recombinant AfuA cloned from B. pertussis (rAfuA). Importantly, the presence of the O-antigen, a molecule that has been found to shield surface antigens on B. parapertussis, showed no influence on antibody recognition of AfuABpp on the bacterial surface. The present study further showed that antibodies induced by immunization with the recombinant protein were able to opsonize B. parapertussis and promote bacterial uptake by neutrophils. Finally, it was shown that this antigen confers protection against B. parapertussis infection in a mouse model. Altogether, these results indicate that AfuA is a good vaccine candidate for acellular vaccines protective against both causative agents of whooping cough.