Abstract
Changes in the packed cell volume, haemoglobin, fibrinogen and total protein levels, in the prothrombin, thrombin clotting and kaolin partial thromboplastin times, platelet numbers and fibrin degradation products were investigated in 7 cattle in which contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) was induced by inoculating Mycoplasma mycoides by the endobronchial intubation method. Thrombosis of lung vessels was confirmed in all animals at necropsy. The results of the complement fixation and slide agglutination blood tests indicated that typical lesions of CBPP were present at 7 days. There was a rise in fibrinogen levels soon after inoculation and the difference between the means of the levels of the infected and control animals was significant from the 7th day. Platelet counts in the infected animals were reduced on the 2nd to the 5th day and, although a significant difference between these and the controls could not be demonstrated, this was confirmed by a compensatory rise in the severely affected animals that survived. The kaolin partial thromboplastin time test showed a significant rise in the infected animals from the 8th day, but there was no increase in the prothrombin time nor the thrombin clotting time indicating that depletion of factors in the intrinsic clotting system had commenced by the 8th day and that factors, VIII, IX, XI and XII could have been involved. Fibrin degradation products increased significantly in the infected animals from the 9th day. We conclude that thrombosis is an early event in the pathogenesis of CBPP, it contributes to the subsequent pathology of the lung lesions and platelets are involved to a substantial degree in the formation of the thrombi.
Published Version
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