ABSTRACT
Postprimary tuberculosis occurs in immunocompetent people infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is restricted to the lung and accounts for 80% of cases and nearly 100% of transmission. Little is known about the immunopathology of postprimary tuberculosis due to limited availability of specimens. Tissues from 30 autopsy cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were located. Sections of characteristic lesions of caseating granulomas, lipid pneumonia, and cavitary stages of postprimary disease were selected for immunohistochemical studies of macrophages, lymphocytes, endothelial cells, and mycobacterial antigens. A higher percentage of cells in lipid pneumonia (36.1%) and cavitary lesions (27.8%) were positive for the dendritic cell marker DEC-205, compared to granulomas (9.0%, P < .05). Cavities contained significantly more T-regulatory cells (14.8%) than found in lipid pneumonia (5.2%) or granulomas (4.8%). Distribution of the immune cell types may contribute to the inability of the immune system to eradicate tuberculosis.
Subject(s)
Antigens, CD , Lectins, C-Type , Receptors, Cell Surface , T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary , Antigens, Bacterial/analysis , Antigens, Bacterial/immunology , Antigens, CD/analysis , Antigens, CD/immunology , Autopsy , Biomarkers/analysis , Dendritic Cells/immunology , Dendritic Cells/pathology , Foam Cells/immunology , Foam Cells/pathology , Granuloma/immunology , Granuloma/microbiology , Granuloma/pathology , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Lectins, C-Type/analysis , Lectins, C-Type/immunology , Lung/immunology , Lung/microbiology , Lung/pathology , Minor Histocompatibility Antigens , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/immunology , Organ Specificity , Pneumonia, Lipid/immunology , Pneumonia, Lipid/microbiology , Pneumonia, Lipid/pathology , Receptors, Cell Surface/analysis , Receptors, Cell Surface/immunology , T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/immunology , T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/pathology , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/immunology , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/microbiology , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/pathologyABSTRACT
This report describes the histological and immunohistochemical findings in an adult male genet (Gennetta gennetta) which died a few hours after being found lying in a forest in Lugo (north-western Spain). Subpleural, yellowish, firm foci were found in the lung. Histopathological examination confirmed a diagnosis of endogenous lipid pneumonia. Microscopical lesions that gave rise to a suspicion of canine distemper virus (CDV) infection included lymphoid depletion, non-suppurative encephalitis and demyelination in the central nervous system, and the presence of inclusion bodies in renal tubules. Immunohistochemical examination was performed with the streptavidin-biotin-complex method and a monoclonal antibody against the nucleocapsid protein (NP) of CDV. Antigen was detected in epithelial, nervous and lymphoid cells in several organs. This would appear to be the first report of distemper-like infection in a genet.
