ABSTRACT
Embryos and neonatal offspring of wild-captured cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) and white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) were tested for the presence of Bartonella spp. Isolates of Bartonella spp. were obtained from 18 of 31 embryos and 7 of 19 neonates from bacteremic dams of the two species; no isolates were obtained from material from non-bacteremic dams. Sequence analysis demonstrated that the isolates from embryos and neonates matched the phylogenetic group of Bartonella spp. isolates obtained from the mother. No antibodies to homologous Bartonella spp. antigens were detected in maternal and neonatal blood or embryonic tissue. These findings suggest the possibility of vertical transmission of Bartonella spp. among natural rodent hosts.
Subject(s)
Animals, Newborn/microbiology , Bartonella Infections/veterinary , Bartonella/isolation & purification , Peromyscus/microbiology , Rodent Diseases/microbiology , Sigmodontinae/microbiology , Animals , Antibodies, Bacterial/blood , Bacteremia/embryology , Bacteremia/microbiology , Bacteremia/veterinary , Bartonella/classification , Bartonella/immunology , Bartonella Infections/embryology , Bartonella Infections/microbiology , Bartonella Infections/transmission , Citrate (si)-Synthase/genetics , Colony Count, Microbial/veterinary , Embryo, Mammalian/microbiology , Female , Fetal Diseases/embryology , Fetal Diseases/microbiology , Fetal Diseases/veterinary , Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical , Peromyscus/embryology , Phylogeny , Placenta/microbiology , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/microbiology , Rodent Diseases/embryology , Rodent Diseases/transmission , Sigmodontinae/embryologyABSTRACT
This study has investigated the effect of intrauterine infection on placental perfusion, fetal circulation and fetal oxygenation in patients with preterm prelabor amniorrhexis. In 69 pregnancies with preterm prelabor amniorrhexis, Doppler ultrasound studies of the uterine and umbilical arteries and the fetal middle cerebral artery and thoracic aorta were performed. Within 1 h after the Doppler studies, cordocentesis and amniocentesis were carried out for microbiological investigations and measurement of blood pO2 and pH. In the amniorrhexis group, there were no significant differences from the appropriate normal mean for gestation in any of the Doppler indices or blood gas results. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between the groups with positive fetal blood or amniotic fluid cultures and those with no evidence of infection. These data demonstrate that, in preterm prelabor amniorrhexis, microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity and fetal bacteremia are not associated with detectable changes in placental perfusion, fetal circulation or fetal oxygenation.
