[Amyloidosis in turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo f. domestica)--a case report]

High prevalence of leg disorders in fattening meat turkey farm was observed. Four birds as well as tracheal and joint swabs were submitted to the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority in Oberschleissheim and to the Institute of Poultry Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Free University of Berlin. At the post-mortem, all birds showed an inflammation of the hock joints (intertarsal joint). The histopatholical investigations revealed a chronic inflammation of the joint and amyloid deposits in the joints in two cases as well as in different tissues (liver, spleen and kidneys) in another two cases. Using polymerase chain reaction, Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale-DNA could be detected in the examined tracheal and joint swabs. On the other hand, Mycoplasma gallisepticum- and Mycoplasma synoviae-DNA could not be detected. A causal correlation between the detected infectious agent and amyloidosis in relation to the leg disorders were discussed.

Scrapie: a virus-induced amyloidosis of the brain

We have studied the pathogenesis of scrapie in hamsters, in particular the increase of infectivity and the formation of scrapie-associated fibrils in relation to clinical disease. The results of such studies after intraperitoneal or intracerebral infection are consistent with the idea that transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are a type of virus-induced, brain-specific amyloidosis. Therefore, an appropriate name for the class of viruses that cause these diseases might be amyloid-inducing viruses.

Enterohepatic Helicobacter species isolated from the ileum, liver and colon of a baboon with pancreatic islet amyloidosis

Microaerobic bacteria were isolated from a baboon with pancreatic islet amyloidosis and hepatitis. Phenotypic and molecular analyses identified two distinct helicobacters. Analyses of 16S rRNA demonstrated "Helicobacter macacae" in the ileum and liver, and Helicobacter cinaedi in the colon. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first report describing the isolation of enterohepatic Helicobacter species from a baboon.

Renal amyloidosis due to pulmonary tuberculosis in a patient with Down syndrome

A pulmonary-tuberculosis-related renal amyloidosis patient with Down syndrome, who presented with nephrotic syndrome, was studied.

[Renal amyloidosis caused by Ehrlichia canis]

An 8 year old, intact female, Old English Sheepdog was presented with lethargy and chronic weight loss of one year duration. The dog suffered from recurrent fever and a mild peripheral lymphadenopathy. Mild thrombocytopenia, monoclonal hyperglobulinemia and positive Ehrlichia canis antibody titer were indicative of Ehrlichiosis. The patient developed proteinuria and renal failure, which suggested the presence of glomerulopathy. Immunohistochemical staining of renal biopsy specimen demonstrated AA amyloidosis. Chronic ehrlichiosis was suspected to be the cause of the dog's renal amyloidosis.

Renal amyloidosis secondary to tuberculosis of cecum

Renal amyloidosis can occur as a primary or secondary, systemic or localized disorder. It is defined as a chronic infiltrative disorder characterized by impaired organ function caused by extracellular insoluble protein fibrils. Although colonic tuberculosis is not uncommon, the occurrence of reactive renal amyloidosis in such patients is not as prevalent. We report a single case of renal amyloidosis in a patient with tuberculosis of the cecum who presented with nephrotic syndrome.

[Mycoplasma synoviae-associated amyloid arthropathy in white leghorns: case report]

Under field circumstances amyloid arthropathy was nerve recorded in white layers, while experimentally their brown counterparts were found to be more susceptible to the induction of amyloid arthropathy, although articular amyloid was found in a few white leghorns. In the present manuscript the first field case of amyloid arthropathy in white layers associated with Mycoplasma synoviae is reported. In the same house where the white birds were housed, brown layers were present. The condition was much more severe in the latter chickens. The different susceptibility between both breeds is discussed in view of previously performed research.

Molecular epidemiology of unilateral amyloid arthropathy in broiler breeders associated with Enterococcus faecalis

Although symmetrical polyarticular amyloidosis has been described extensively in brown layers, spontaneous unilateral amyloid arthropathy has not been described previously in chickens. Birds from nine flocks of broiler parent stock (PS) had unilateral lameness associated with severe swelling of the left hock joint and the caudal aspect of the metatarsus. Gross pathology was restricted to the left hock joint and the left digital flexor tendons in almost all cases, suggesting an association with administration of Marek's disease vaccine. Amyloid deposits were found in 83% (25/30) of affected joints by histological examination of Congo red stained sections. Systemic amyloidosis, involving mainly the liver and spleen, was found in 59% (10/17) of birds. Enterococcus faecalis was isolated from joints in 77% (23/30) of cases and Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the joint in one case (1/30). Thirty-five E. faecalis isolates from joints, tendons and blood samples from birds in five affected PS flocks were compared using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to separate genomic fragments after digestion with SmaI. All but one isolate had identical or closely related restriction endonuclease digestion (RED) patterns that were very similar to a known arthropathic and amyloidogenic E. faecalis isolate. A further 30 E. faecalis isolates from seven grandparent stock (GPS) flocks and two isolates from two unaffected PS flocks of the same genetic background were analysed by PFGE. Among these isolates, 11 originating from four GPS flocks had RED patterns identical to or closely related to the reference amyloid-inducing strain. Moreover, one E. faecalis isolate from amyloidotic joints of brown layers housed in California, USA was included in the analysis and appeared to be identical to the reference strain. This study showed that the E. faecalis isolates involved in these outbreaks of unilateral amyloid arthropathy in broiler breeders belonged to the same clone as that responsible for outbreaks in brown layers.

Aerosol transmission of arthropathic and amyloidogenic Enterococcus faecalis

One-day-old brown layer chicks were exposed to an aerosol of an arthropathic and amyloidogenic Enterococcus faecalis strain alone or after being subjected to treatment with formaldehyde gas (100-200 ppm). Four-day-old chicks were also treated with the same aerosol but after treatment with a Newcastle disease vaccine virus (NDVV) aerosol or intramuscular injection with methylprednisolon at day 1. The same E. faecalis strain was inoculated intramuscularly in day-old chicks as positive control. Bacteremia with time showed that 24 hr after the aerosol the day-old exposed chicks had the highest rate of positive blood cultures (70%-80%). Lower numbers of bacteremic birds at this point in time were found in the chicks treated with E. faecalis aerosol at day 4 (3/10 in the methylprednisolon-treated group and 0/10 in the NDVV-treated group) and the E. faecalis intramuscular-injected group at day 1 (2/10). Formaldehyde gas treatment did not favor the occurrence of bacteremia. NDVV aerosol exposure or injection with corticosteroids did not favor the occurrence of bacteremia 24 hr after E. faecalis aerosol exposure at day 4 either, although 66 days after aerosol, one bird (1/14) treated with NDVV showed bacteremia. A few bacteremic birds were found 10 days after aerosol in the NDVV- and methylprednisolon-treated groups, whereas at 14 days after aerosol, one bacteremic bird was seen in the group subjected to E. faecalis aerosol at day 1, indicating the occurrence of chronic bacteremia. In contrast to the E. faecalis intramuscular-inoculated birds, no joint pathology was seen in the aerosol-exposed groups in spite of the occurrence of chronic bacteremia.

Evaluation of 99mTc-MAMA-chrysamine G as an in vivo probe for amyloidosis

To date, systemic amyloidosis is diagnosed histologically using Congo red staining or in vivo using iodine-123 labelled serum amyloid P component (123I-SAP) scintigraphy. We developed 99mTc-MAMA-CG, a 99mTc-labelled derivative of the lipophilic Congo red analogue chrysamine G (CG), as a possible alternative to 123I-SAP. In vivo 99mTc-MAMA-CG scintigraphy, performed in chickens with spontaneous joint amyloidosis, resulted as soon as 10 min after injection in scintigraphic images showing uptake of activity in amyloid-loaded organs (liver, joints). One of these chickens was studied also with 123I-SAP resulting in scintigraphic images revealing 123I-SAP binding to amyloid deposits in the liver. However, up to 11 h after injection no radioactivity was visible in the amyloid positive joints. In vitro autoradiography, performed on sections of chicken joints with Enterococcus faecalis induced amyloid arthropathy (chjAA), demonstrated the failure of 99mTc-MAMA-CG to bind significantly to amyloid deposits in the presence of 10 microM Congo red The specificity of 99mTc-MAMA-CG localisation was also established by the absence of 99mTc-MAMA-CG binding in non-amyloidotic organs in vitro and in vivo. 99mTc-MAMA-CG did not show any sign of acute toxicity. These findings establish the usefulness of 99mTc-MAMA-CG as a non-invasive in vivo diagnostic probe in chickens with amyloid arthropathy and suggest that it may also be applicable to human amyloidosis.

Epidemiology: Study on the vertical transmission of arthropathic and amyloidogenicEnterococcus faecalisin a flock of brown layer chickens

Enterococcus faecalis-related amyloid arthropathy was diagnosed in a sample of birds from a flock of brown layer parent chickens aged 57 weeks. E. faecalis was isolated from amyloidotic knee joints and from blood samples from lame birds. From this flock a smaller one was kept for production purposes to study the vertical transmission of arthropathic and amyloidogenic E. faecalis. Three batches of non-soiled and thoroughly disinfected eggs, to prevent egg-shell contamination, were collected for 6 weeks and submitted for incubation every 2 weeks. No joint pathology was found in the offspring chicks (n = 458) monitored for joint disease until 16 or 21 weeks of age. Fresh and candled eggs (infertiles and dead embryos) obtained at day 18 of the incubation period had negative results at bacteriological examination of the yolk sac, except one non-hatched egg (late embryonal death in shell) from which E. faecalis was isolated. Genotyping by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of all E. faecalis isolates obtained from blood and joints (except one) of the parent birds and of the non-hatched egg after Sma I digestion showed that all isolates were genetically closely related or identical to a known arthropathic and amyloidogenic E. faecalis strain. In this study, vertical transmission of E. faecalis, although it may occur on a small scale as shown by PFGE, did not seem to play a significant role. Conversely, the chronicity of the condition and the development of an immune response may have affected the efficiency of its transmission.

Current concepts on pathogenesis of renal tuberculosis

The pathogenesis of renal tuberculosis begins with the initial localization of the tubercle bacilli in the cortical glomeruli causing mechanical stress which lead to alteration in cell morphology, increased rate of protein synthesis and proliferation of resident glomerular cells as well as the infiltrating blood borne cells. The infection may remain localized to the renal parenchyma resulting in various forms of glomerulonephritides and/or gain access to the calyceal system causing pyelocalyceal destruction with subsequent ureteric and urinary bladder involvement. The disease may remain quiesent at the foregoing stage or progress to hydronephrosis and pyonephrosis as a result strictures and obstruction. This communication discusses the immunological responses and various specific lesions resulting from renal injury caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Amyloid arthropathy in chickens

The present paper presents an overview of current knowledge of amyloid arthropathy in chickens, and covers the pathogenesis of amyloidosis in general and in birds, field cases reported, and the studies performed to assess the amyloidogenicity of various agents compared to that of Enterococcus faecalis. An animal model of amyloid arthropathy is presented, as are studies on the pathogenesis of arthropathic and amyloidogenic E. faecalis infections in brown layers. The review concludes with a description of the pathology of amyloid arthropathy, the biochemical characterization of the chicken joint amyloid protein as being of the AA type, investigation of the serum amyloid A (SAA) gene involved, and local SAA mRNA expression in joint and liver.

The role of various agents in chicken amyloid arthropathy

The results of an inventory of field cases of amyloid arthropathy in chickens and of routine post-mortem recordings over a two years period are described. Studies were also performed to evaluate the amyloidogenic potential of arthrotropic bacterial species (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella enteritidis) isolated from chickens as well as several Enterococcus faecalis isolates compared to the amyloidogenic E. faecalis isolate (previously isolated from amyloidotic joints). As chicken anemia virus was also isolated from amyloidotic joints of field cases, it was also screened for its amyloidogenic potential. In another experiment, Mycoplasma synoviae, inactivated E. faecalis isolate 6085.94, Freund's adjuvant and an arthrotropic reovirus field isolate were also screened for amyloidogenicity by intra-articular injection. These studies showed that the ability to elicit extensive amyloid arthropathy is reserved primarily to E. faecalis, but that this property is not common to every E. faecalis isolate. Intra-articular application of complete Freund's adjuvant led to the formation of extensive joint amyloid deposits. Of the other micro-organisms studied, S. aureus, S. enteritidis and E. coli were also able to cause joint amyloidosis, but in very small amounts. Inactivated E. faecalis, chicken anemia virus and reovirus did not cause amyloid arthropathy after intra-articular inoculation. This study is consistent with results of the analyses of previous field cases and of the induction of amyloid arthropathy in chickens, suggesting a considerable role for E. faecalis in this clinical-pathological entity. Finally, strain typing by analysis of chromosomal DNA restriction endonuclease digests by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of amyloidogenic, non-amyloidogenic, amyloid-associated and other E. faecalis isolates from various origins showed that all amyloidogenic and amyloid-associated E. faecalis isolates had similar restriction digests, suggesting clonal spread.

Amyloidoses of the nervous system in the transmissible dementias

The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, both in humans and in animals, are neurodegenerative diseases which do not evoke an immune response in the host. The search for the etiological agent has led to the prion hypothesis, which proposes that a host-encoded protein may be the causal agent itself or a part of it. In humans, a low percentage of these transmissible encephalopathies are familial. Investigations centered on the understanding of the pathogenesis of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies have implications, not only in basic sciences, but in clinical medicine as well.

The effects of Escherichia coli and its endotoxin on amyloidogenesis in ducks

To compare the effects of two inocula on the induction of amyloidosis in normal and thymectomized ducks, 180 normal and 50 thymectomized ducks were injected intravenously weekly for up to 16 weeks with either crude endotoxin or crude whole cell extract of a virulent strain of Escherichia coli (O78), and another 60 ducks were injected with normal saline as study control. During the first 5 weekly injections, the initial doses of inducing agents were the smallest and then adjusted upward to the maximum study doses (1 or 2 mg/bird of crude endotoxin and 15-18 x 10(8) bacteria/bird of crude whole cell extract), which were then maintained over the course of the study. The incidence of amyloid deposition were: 50.00% (25/50) for thymectomized ducks that received 1 mg/bird/week of crude endotoxin, 61.67% (37/60) for intact ducks that received 15 x 10(8)-18 x 10(8) bacteria (crude whole cell extract)/bird/week, 53.33% (32/60) for intact ducks received 2 mg/bird/week of crude endotoxin, and 63.33% (38/60) for intact ducks received 1 mg/bird/week of crude endotoxin. The results suggest that crude whole cell extract and crude endotoxin induced amyloidosis in ducks at similar rates and that, in ducks, thymectomy has no appreciable effect on the occurrence of amyloidosis.

The transmissible amyloidoses: genetical control of spontaneous generation of infectious amyloid proteins by nucleation of configurational change in host precursors: kuru-CJD-GSS-scrapie-BSE

Kuru, Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Sträussler syndrome, scrapie, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy are caused by so-called unconventional viruses which are really replicating proteins which induce by auto nucleation and autopatterning a configurational change in the precursor protein to produce an infectious amyloid form. Crystallography and NMR may eventually determine how amyloid precursor protein is converted to this infectious form by configurational changes in all tertiary and quaternary structure of the normal precursor. Most sporadic cases of CJD arise by de novo spontaneous conversion of the normal precursor to the infectious form, a rare event occurring at the frequency of one per million persons per year (the annual incidence of CJD throughout the world). In the familial forms of CJD and GSS, where the occurrence is an autosomal dominant trait, each family has one of five different mutations causing a single amino acid change or one of five insertions of 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 octapeptide repeats. Each mutation causes a million-fold increased probability of the spontaneous configurational change to an infectious polypeptide, and appears as an autosomal dominant trait. Thus, the behavior of the transmissible brain amyloidosis parallels completely that of the transthyretin amyloidoses causing familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy, in which there are 19 different point mutations, each one of which increases enormously the likelihood of configurational change of transthyretin prealbumin to amyloid.

Virus-induced amyloidoses

After a short introduction into the general concept of amyloidoses and the genetic disposition involved in these diseases, the genetic disposition for unconventional virus diseases (or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies) and the disease specific amyloid are described. Experimental studies on the pathogenesis and the infectious agent suggest that scrapie and related diseases are virus-induced amyloidoses of the brain.

Virus-induced amyloidosis in scrapie involves a change in covalent linkages in the preamyloid

Preparations of the preamyloid and the amyloid protein from normal and scrapie hamster brains show different solubilization behaviours towards Triton X-114 extraction. The normal isoform is completely extractable from microsomal membranes by the detergent, whereas the pathological one is not. Both forms can be isolated using preparative SDS electrophoresis as the final step in order to remove all non-covalently associated materials. After removal of the SDS these purified proteins retain their solubility differences against Triton X-114. This demonstrates that at least one distinct modification of the preamyloid protein--which has to be covalent in nature--must have occurred to account for the strong aggregation tendency of the pathological isoform.

Cerebral amyloid in mice with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is influenced by the strain of the infectious agent

We examined Fukuoka-1 and Fukuoka-2 mouse-adapted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease strains. Mice infected with the Fukuoka-2 strain have a higher incidence of kuru plaques, a higher concentration of proteinase-resistant prion protein, and a higher infectivity titer than do mice with the Fukuoka-1 strain. Thus, it must be kept in mind that there is a difference in the strain of the infectious agent in murine Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Congophilia in cerebral amyloidosis is modified by inactivation procedures on slow transmissible pathogens

Cerebral tissues with amyloid deposits were treated by various chemicals which inactivated the agent of subacute spongiform encephalopathy (SSE). We discovered Congophilia in the amyloid plaques in cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and Gerstmann-Sträussler syndrome (GSS) correlated to the chemical inactivation profiles of SSE. After incubation with trichloroacetate, guanidine-SCN, guanidine-HCl, formic acid, phenol and autoclaving, amyloid plaques in unfixed frozen sections of human brains with CJD or GSS, lost the affinity of Congo red and green birefringence under polarized light. In formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections, amyloid plaques of CJD and GSS lost the affinity of Congo red after most of these treatments. On the other hand, senile plaques in the aged, patients with Alzheimer's disease and with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type did not lose the affinity of Congo red after most of these treatments. Therefore, the amyloid deposits in the amyloid plaques differ from those in senile plaques. The methods we used facilitate differentiation of amyloid and senile plaques in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues.

Scrapie: concept of a virus-induced amyloidosis of the brain

After an intraperitoneal infection disease-specific incorporation of [3H]leucine into protein and [3H]uridine into RNA in the brain precede clinical scrapie in hamsters. Onset of both incorporations are the earliest measurable events in the disease. Infectivity and subsequent clinical symptoms appear only after this biochemical activity has ceased. The disease-specific [3H]protein co-purifies with scrapie-associated fibrils (SAF) and infectivity during differential centrifugation and buffer extraction. SDS-PAGE shows that the [3H]protein is not SAF protein but a protein with an apparently higher mol. wt. The [3H]RNA is metabolically stable and separates from SAF and the main portion of infectivity in the last step of the purification. The appearance of SAF-protein is a late event and correlates with severe clinical symptoms. SAF seems to be derived from a brain protein turning over slowly. Our data are consistent with early pre-clinical virus replication. In this case treatment aimed at suppressing virus replication in the clinical phase of the human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is unlikely to produce any beneficial effect.