Infectious Agents Identified by Real-Time PCR, Serology and Bacteriology in Blood and Peritoneal Exudate Samples of Cows Affected by Parietal Fibrinous Peritonitis after Caesarean Section.

Nassim Moula,Arnaud Sartelet,Calixte Bayrou,Salem Djebala,Philippe Bossaert,Damien Thiry,Julien Evrard,Fabien Gregoire

doi:10.3390/vetsci7030134

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the pathogens potentially involved in parietal fibrinous peritonitis (PFP). PFP is a complication of laparotomy in cattle, characterized by an accumulation of exudate inside a fibrinous capsule. We have studied 72 cases of PFP in Belgian blue cows, confirmed by a standard diagnostic protocol. Blood was collected to evaluate the presence of antibodies for Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis), Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) and Bovine Herpesvirus 4 (BoHV4) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Peritoneal exudate was obtained from the PFP cavity to perform bacteriological culture, and to identify the DNA of M. bovis, C. burnetii and BoHV4 using real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Bacteriological culture was positive in most peritoneal samples (59/72); Trueperella pyogenes (T. pyogenes) (51/72) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) (20/72) were the most frequently identified. For BoHV4, the majority of cows showed positive serology and qPCR (56/72 and 49/72, respectively). Contrariwise, M. bovis (17/72 and 6/72, respectively) and C. burnetii (15/72 and 6/72, respectively) were less frequently detected (p < 0.0001). Our study proves that PFP can no longer be qualified as a sterile inflammation. Moreover, we herein describe the first identification of BoHV4 and C. burnetii in cows affected by PFP.

Highlights

Parietal fibrinous peritonitis (PFP) in cattle is a postoperative complication of laparotomy [1,2,3], characterized by the accumulation of fibrin and peritoneal exudate inside a thick fibrous capsule between the outer sheath of the parietal peritoneum and the abdominal muscular layers [1,3]
82 different strains from nine bacteria species were identified in the positive samples, among which T. pyogenes (51/59) and E. coli (20/59) were predominant compared to the other sporadically identified bacterial species (p < in the remaining samples)
The other isolated bacteria species were always associated with T. pyogenes or E. coli, except for Helicoccus ovis and Streptococcus mitis, which were identified alone

Summary

Introduction

Parietal fibrinous peritonitis (PFP) in cattle is a postoperative complication of laparotomy [1,2,3], characterized by the accumulation of fibrin and peritoneal exudate inside a thick fibrous capsule between the outer sheath of the parietal peritoneum and the abdominal muscular layers [1,3]. PFP is very scarcely documented and rural practitioners have little information considering its treatment, prevention and prognosis. PFP has been considered as an aseptic inflammation [5,8,9]. This assumption has recently been challenged, after the isolation of several aerobic and anaerobic bacteria such as Trueperella pyogenes (T. pyogenes), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Fusobacter necrofurum, Comamonas kerstersii, Bacillus licheniformis, and Bacteroides species in in the peritoneal fluid of PFP cows [2,3,4]

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