Pathological and molecular study of kidneys in apparently healthy cattle and sheep with special reference to Leptospira species in central and northern Jordan

• Published in: Veterinary World Vol. 16; no. 12; pp. 2488 - 2496
• Main Authors: Hailat, Nabil Q, Mafrag, Zaid A, Gharaibeh, Mohammad H, Alzuheir, Ibrahim M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Veterinary World 01-12-2023
• Subjects: Analysis; Cattle; Gram-negative bacteria; jordan; Kidney diseases; leptospirosis; Livestock; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Phylogeny; polymerase chain reaction; renal lesions; RNA; sequencing; sheep; Iran; leptospirosis; renal lesions; cattle; Jordan; polymerase chain reaction; sheep; sequencing
• ISSN: 0972-8988; 2231-0916
• DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.2488-2496

Renal pathological conditions can cause significant economic losses for livestock owners. This study investigated and described the gross pathology and histopathology of lesions found in the kidneys of sheep and cattle, with particular attention to the presence of
spp.
Three hundred and sixty kidneys from apparently healthy sheep and cattle (208 and 152, respectively) were collected from slaughterhouses in Jordan for gross and histopathological examinations, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, and gene sequencing of
spp.
Histopathological analysis of the samples revealed the following conditions: interstitial nephritis (4.44%), glomerulonephritis (4.16%), acute tubular necrosis (17.22%), and renal congestion (4.72%). In addition, in 26.9% of the samples, hyaline material was observed in the interstitium of the cortex and medulla. The PCR results revealed that 83 (23.1%) of the 360 samples were positive for
spp. 16S rRNA, 42/152 (28%) of cattle, and 41/208 (20%) of sheep. Four samples (two sheep and two cattle) were sequenced and deposited in GenBank with accession numbers from OL701310 to OL701313. Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search and nucleotide similarities between OL701311 and OL701313 resulted in the highest similarities with different
strains, whereas OL701310 showed the highest nucleotide similarity (99.2%) with the
strain. Similarly, phylogenetic analysis revealed that OL701311 to OL701313 clustered together with different serovars of
, whereas OL701310 clustered with the
clade.
This is the first study to reveal a close association between pathogenic
spp. and kidney disorders in Jordanian cattle and sheep. These findings may help expand the current understanding of the causes and mechanisms of renal disease in cattle and sheep and contribute to developing more effective prevention and treatment programs.