Detection of bovine leukosis provirus in blood and semen samples of bulls

Abstract

Enzootic bovine leukosis is a chronic lymphoproliferative disorder in cattle caused by the exogenous retrovirus, bovine leukemia virus (BLV). There are numerous molecular protocols for the detection of bovine leukosis provirus in blood and semen. The aim of this study was to investigate the serology status of BLV infection in bulls in Tabriz, Iran and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of viral genome of BLV in seminal cellular fraction and blood samples in sero-positive and sero-negative bulls. In this study, 45 serum samples from bulls from 18 different herds referred to the Artificial Insemination Centre were used to evaluate the serology infection of BLV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In addition, blood and semen samples of related bulls were used for the detection of BLV DNA. Antibodies against BLV were detected in five of 45 blood samples (4.4%), and PCR demonstrated that semen and blood samples of five sero-positive and one sero-negative bull were infected by BLV. Our findings support the power of a PCR test for BLV detection in bovine semen and blood samples and could be easily used for routine diagnosis. This data strongly suggest that semen from sero-positive bulls could result positive by PCR.