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Witherell K, White L, Shaw L, Tomassini L, Eckstrand C, Nelson D, McConnel CS, Burbick CR. Utility of postmortem bacterial culture of abdominal organs at autopsy of young calves. J Vet Diagn Invest 2023; 35:182-186. [PMID: 36772787 PMCID: PMC9999389 DOI: 10.1177/10406387231152576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Postmortem bacterial culture is controversial in human medicine, and veterinary-specific research in this area is lacking. To address this knowledge gap, we cultured liver, kidney, and spleen individually from on-farm calf mortalities to determine the number of bacterial species present, concordance between organ cultures, and agreement with gross and histologic findings. We hypothesized that the spleen, a filtering organ, would be the most useful organ with the least amount of postmortem contamination given that it does not have a direct conduit to a bacterial population. Fresh liver, kidney, and spleen were collected for culture from 30 calves 5-28-d-old with various causes of mortality. Bacterial growth of ≥2 species was observed in ~48% of cultures, with Escherichia coli and Streptococcus spp. being most frequent. One bacterial species was present in 20% of cultures, with E. coli predominating. No growth was observed in ~32% of cultures. In 43% of cases, there was agreement in the culture results for all 3 organs; however, the majority were mixed bacterial growth. The best agreement was observed when there were no gross and/or histologic septic lesions in target organs and no bacterial growth on culture. The spleen was not helpful in determining bacterial significance in comparison to kidney or liver.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlin Witherell
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Laura White
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
- Departments of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Lisa Shaw
- Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Letizia Tomassini
- Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Chrissy Eckstrand
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
- Departments of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Danielle Nelson
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
- Departments of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Craig S. McConnel
- Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Claire R. Burbick
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
- Departments of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
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McConnel CS, Slanzon GS, Parrish LM, Trombetta SC, Shaw LF, Moore DA, Sischo WM. Transcriptional changes detected in fecal RNA from neonatal dairy calves of different breeds following gastrointestinal disease of varying severity. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0278664. [PMID: 36454999 PMCID: PMC9714867 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Gastrointestinal (GI) disease is a major health concern in preweaned dairy calves. The objective of this fixed cohort study was to use RNA isolated from preweaned Holstein and Jersey heifer calf feces to study the molecular adaptations to variable clinical GI disease. The study was conducted on a commercial calf ranch in the western U.S. Enrolled calves were assessed twice daily for variations in demeanor, milk intake, and hydration. Fecal consistency scores were recorded at enrollment (day 1), and on the day (day 10) that a fecal sample was collected for differential gene expression (DGE). Calves with diarrhea on either day were classified as having either uncomplicated, localized GI disease (scours), or systemic GI disease (systemic enteritis). Eighty-four calves' fecal RNA was evaluated for DGE, of which 33 calves (n = 20 Holstein; n = 13 Jersey) were consistently healthy. The remaining 51 calves (n = 23 Holstein; n = 28 Jersey) experienced varying severity of GI disease during the sampling window. Genes of interest were related to the inflammatory response (i.e., IFNG, NFKB1, NOD2, TLR2, and TLR4) and cell membrane or cytoplasmic transport (i.e., AQP3, FABP2, KRT8 and SLC5A1). Breed-specific findings indicated that AQP3, IFNG, and TLR4 were upregulated in Holsteins with systemic enteritis, whereas KRT8 was downregulated in systemically affected Jerseys. Holsteins did not appear affected by scours aside from a tendency for DGE of toll-like receptors (TLRs) on the day of diarrhea. However, Jersey calves consistently demonstrated a tendency to upregulate IFNG, NFKB1, and TLR4 when affected with either scours or systemic enteritis. These findings were more pronounced in systemically affected Jersey calves and were observed as a delayed response to both scours and systemic enteritis. These findings support previous observations suggesting that Holstein calves may be better equipped than Jersey calves to rapidly fight pathogen invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. S. McConnel
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Field Disease Investigation Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - G. S. Slanzon
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Field Disease Investigation Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - L. M. Parrish
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Field Disease Investigation Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - S. C. Trombetta
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Field Disease Investigation Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - L. F. Shaw
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Field Disease Investigation Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - D. A. Moore
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Field Disease Investigation Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - W. M. Sischo
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Field Disease Investigation Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
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Slanzon GS, Ridenhour BJ, Moore DA, Sischo WM, Parrish LM, Trombetta SC, McConnel CS. Fecal microbiome profiles of neonatal dairy calves with varying severities of gastrointestinal disease. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0262317. [PMID: 34982792 PMCID: PMC8726473 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Gastrointestinal disease (GI) is the most common illness in pre-weaned dairy calves. Studies have associated the fecal microbiome composition with health status, but it remains unclear how the microbiome changes across different levels of GI disease and breeds. Our objective was to associate the clinical symptoms of GI disease with the fecal microbiome. Fecal samples were collected from calves (n = 167) of different breeds (Holstein, Jersey, Jersey-cross and beef-cross) from 4-21 d of age. Daily clinical evaluations assessed health status. Calves with loose or watery feces were diagnosed with diarrhea and classified as bright-sick (BS) or depressed-sick (DS) according to behavior. Calves with normal or semiformed feces and no clinical illness were classified as healthy (H). One hundred and three fecal samples were obtained from consistently healthy calves and 64 samples were from calves with diarrhea (n = 39 BS; n = 25 DS). The V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene was sequenced and analyzed. Differences were identified by a linear-mixed effects model with a negative binomial error. DS and Jersey calves had a higher relative abundance of Streptococcus gallolyticus relative to H Holstein calves. In addition, DS calves had a lower relative abundance of Bifidobacterium longum and an enrichment of Escherichia coli. Species of the genus Lactobacillus, such as an unclassified Lactobacillus, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus salivarius were enriched in calves with GI disease. Moreover, we created a model to predict GI disease based on the fecal microbiome composition. The presence of Eggerthella lenta, Bifidobacterium longum, and Collinsella aerofaciens were associated with a healthy clinical outcome. Although lactobacilli are often associated with beneficial probiotic properties, the presence of E. coli and Lactobacillus species had the highest coefficients positively associated with GI disease prediction. Our results indicate that there are differences in the fecal microbiome of calves associated with GI disease severity and breed specificities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovana S. Slanzon
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Benjamin J. Ridenhour
- Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science, College of Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, United States of America
| | - Dale A. Moore
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - William M. Sischo
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Lindsay M. Parrish
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Sophie C. Trombetta
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Craig S. McConnel
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
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