Pathological study of intrauterine infection to embryos by Encephalitozoon cuniculi spores in pregnant mice

• Published in: Iraqi journal of veterinary sciences Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 49 - 54
• Main Authors: al-Mahmud, Sivan Sad Fadil, al-Sadi, Hafiz Ibrahim Mahmud
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Arabic; English
• Published: Mosul, Iraq University of Mosul, College of Veterinary Medicine 2016
• Subjects: embryos; encephalitozoon cuniculi; intrauterine infection; pregnant mice; الأجنة; التغيرات النسيجية; الحمل; الرحم; العدوى; الفئران; راشنة الدماغ الأرنبية
• ISSN: 1607-3894; 2071-1255; 2071-1255
• DOI: 10.33899/ijvs.2016.121383

This study aimed to investigate pathology of oral E. cuniculi infection during pregnancy in pregnant mice and embryos. A
total of 40 pregnant mice at first day of gestation were divided into two groups, first group were infected orally by E. cuniculi
sores of 107 spores/ mice, second group left without any treatment. At 18th days of gestation all pregnant mice were euthanized.
Gross pathology finding in pregnant mice of infected group included congestion of liver and lung, the embryos lesions
consisted from enlargement of head and abdomen. Histological lesions in pregnant mice of infected group consisted of hepatic
non-suppurative granulomatous lesions with E. cuniculi spores aggregation with lymphocytic infiltration, the lungs lesions
consisted of infiltration of lymphocytes with E. cuniculi spores, kidney lesions composed from degenerative and necrotic
changes in renal tubules, brain lesions consisted from lymphocytic infiltration with increase in number of glial cells, while
intestine tissue sections showed hyperplasia of lymphatic tissue with present of parasitic vacuoles at tips of villi, the placenta
exhibited E. cuniculi spores with hyperplasia of trophoblast in chorionic villi, while histological lesions in embryos showed
lymphocytic infiltration around alveoli with hyperplasia of lymphatic tissue around bronchioles with absent the normal
architecture of hepatic cords and vacuolation of hepatocytes with hyperplasia of lymphocytes in white pulp of spleen. This
study provides insight into the pathology of E. cuniculi infection in pregnant mice and their embryos, also supports the
hypothesis of intrauterine transmission of E. cuniculi infection to embryos during pregnancy period.