Chlamydia-induced abortion in a horse
Glávits, R.; Molnár, T.; Rády, M.
Acta Veterinaria Hungarica 36(1-2): 33-36
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0236-6290 PMID: 3202048 Document Number: 306083
In two equine fetuses (twins) aborted in the 7th month of pregnancy, chlamydiae were demonstrated by light-microscopic examination of smears made from the stomach contents and fetal membranes and by transmission electron microscopy of the livers. The aetiological involvement of other abortifacient infective agents was ruled out. Necropsy of the fetuses revealed icterus, enlargement of the spleen, liver and, certain lymph nodes, scattered petechial or occasionally, extensive haemorrhages in the subcutaneous tissue, skeletal muscles, under the serous and in the mucous membranes, and in the placentae. Histologically there was serous hepatitis characterized by activation and, in some places, focal proliferation of cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) and fetal extramedullary haemocytopoiesis, vacuolar degeneration of parenchymal cells in the centrolobular areas, lympho-histiocytic infiltration of the periportal tissues, and signs of cholestasis. In addition, in the spleen and lymph nodes hyperaemia and proliferation of MPS and haemocytopoietic cells, among the myocardial fibres focal lymphohistiocytic infiltrations, in the lungs hyperaemia, in the kidneys bilirubin nephrosis, and in the placentae haemorrhages were seen. By transmission electron microscopy, chlamydial developmental stages were identified in vacuoles situated in the cytoplasm of MPS cells in the liver.