Sporadic Abortion Research Articles

Bilan de trois années de diagnostic étiologique des avortements

During three years, the authors have searched the origin of sporadic and enzootic abortions in somes species (mares, cows, ewes, goats, sows and even dogs) and in different regions. In order to reduce the frequency of checks, they repeal the conditions in which samples must be done and sent to laboratory. Because of the great diversity of the etiology, it seems more and more necessary to request the collaboration of several specialized laboratories, the percentage of positive diagnosis being now-a-days limited by technical, scientific and financial contingences.

The prevalence of toxoplasma antibodies among 11,736 pregnant women in Norway.

A serologic screening for toxoplasma antibodies by dye test (DT) and IgG indirect fluorescent antibody test (IgG-IFAT) has been carried out among 10729 pregnant women in the Oslo area and 1 007 pregnant women from the county of Møre and Romsdal situated on the west coast of Norway. The frequency of toxoplasma antibodies was found to be higher in women living in rural areas and a higher prevalence was observed among women living in the western districts of Oslo than among women from the eastern districts of the city. The mean frequency of DT antibodies was found to be 12.5% in the Oslo area and 13.3% in Møre and Romsdal, whereas the yearly incidence of acquired infections in the two areas was found to be 5 and 2.3%, respectively. The predicted incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis in the Oslo area, and presumably also in the whole country, would represent 2% of all pregnancies. No serologic differences were found when women with prior histories of either sporadic or habitual abortions were compared to a total group of multigravidae among the Oslo women.

Uterine toxoplasma infections and repeated abortions

Serologic testing for Toxoplasma antibodies (dye test, indirect fluorescent antibody test on serum, and complement-fixation test) was done in 96 women with habitual abortions and 61 women with sporadic abortions. In 61 of these women, endometrial biopsies were examined for content of T. gondii (animal inoculation procedures, immunofluorescence microscopy). Control subjects were 59 women with no spontaneous abortions. In seven patients (one control patient and six with habitual abortion), tachyzoites of T. gondii were observed in repeated biopsies from the endometrium and in menstrual blood by the immunofluorescence method. In no case, however, could T. gondii be isolated from the endometrium by inoculations. Moreover, the serologic results obtained among the patients with habitual abortion did not differ significantly from those obtained among the ones with sporadic abortion or among the control subjects. Five of the women with Toxoplasma-positive endometrium were serologically negative. Treatment of the Toxoplasma-positive women with antitoxoplasma drugs led to removal of parasites from the endometrium. T. gondii was not observed in the semen of the husbands.

Wild bank voles (clethrionomys glariolus) are possibly a natural reservoir of campylobacters (microaerophilic vibrios).

STRAINS of Campylobacter, a genus of microaerophilic bacteria, have been isolated by various workers from the gut and faeces of several animal species including man1, but as far as we know, there have been no reports of their isolation from rodents. The continuing importance of diseases of farm animals involving campylobacters, for example infectious infertility and sporadic abortion in cattle2, abortion in sheep2 and dysentery in pigs3, and the paucity of information on the source of outbreaks of some of these diseases prompted us to investigate whether campylobacters were present in the faeces of bank voles (Clethrionomys glariolus), short tailed field voles (Microtus agrestis) and long tailed field mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) from their natural habitat. These species are common throughout mainland Great Britain4 and were being trapped as part of an investigation into the distribution of pathogenic bacteria and viruses in small wild rodents. Bank voles and field mice are commonly found in woodland and scrub, and short tailed field voles are found in grassland, therefore all three species might provide a source of infection for domestic animals. We report here that bank voles carry campylobacters.

Formula omitted][formula omitted]—Induced abortion

History and Clinical Signs : Cattle herds infected with Vibrio fetus venerealis have histories of infertility and occasional abortions. V. fetus intestinalis does not cause infertility but dose cause sporadic abortion in cattle. Gross Lesions : Fetal tissues are usually not autolysed and the lungs are often partially expanded. Slight dehydration of the carcass, fibrinous pericarditis, pleuritis or peritonitis, or intraabdominal hemorrhage resulting from a ruptured liver may be present. Placentitis is a constant though not pathognomonic lesion. Microscopic Lesions : Suppurative, necrotic placentitis is a constant though not pathognomonic lesion. Suppurative bronchopneumonia or interstitial hepatitis or both may be present. Cultural Procedures : V. fetus can be isolated most consistently from the fetal abomasal contents and placenta. It may also be isolated from the fetal tissues. Serologic Procedures : Protocols have been described for examining blood and vaginal mucus from cows for antibodies to V. fetus . Neither of these tests is considered sufficiently accurate for diagnosing vibriosis in individuals. Special Procedures : Examination of wet mounts of fetal abomasal contents with dark field or phase contrast microscopy often reveals the presence of V. fetus . The organisms are recognizable by their morphology and characteristic rapid, darting, corkscrew means of motility. V. fetus may be detected in fetal and placental tissues and abomasal contents by fluorescent antibody (FA) techniques. Difficulty has been encountered in producing FA conjugates with sufficient specificity and adequate controls should always be used. Preferred Diagnostic Methods : 1. 1. Cultural isolation of V. fetus from the fetal or placental tissues or abomasal contents. Identification of the organism by physical and biochemical characteristics. 2. 2. Observation by dark field or phase contrast microscopy of abomasal contents of organisms with the characteristic motility and morphologic features of vibrio. 3. 3. Demonstration of vibrio organisms in fetal or placental tissues or abomasal contents by properly applied and controlled F.A. techniques. 4. 4. Determination of agglutinating antibodies in the serum of cows which have aborted (within one month following abortion).

A comparison using gel electrophoresis of cell proteins of campylobacters (vibrios) associated with infertility, abortion and swine dysentery.

Summary: Ninety-six Campylobacters were isolated from cattle, sheep, pigs and fowls, of which 40 were studied in detail. Characterization by routine biochemical tests indicated that all isolates were similar and that differences did not correspond with habitat or pathogenicity. The electrophoresis patterns of acid plus phenol-soluble proteins from the 40 Campylobacters allowed the isolates to be placed in three groups which correlated with habitat. Group I comprised all the Campylobacters from the bovine genital tract (these isolates were associated with infertility). Group II comprised all the strains isolated from cattle faeces and all the strains associated with sporadic abortions in cattle and sheep. Group III comprised all the Campylobacters from healthy pigs and from pigs with swine dysentery. Isolates could not be differentiated by electrophoresis of total soluble proteins. Isocitrate dehydrogenase and peroxidase electrophoresis patterns each allowed the pig Campylobacters to be differentiated from cattle and sheep Campylobacters, but did not allow finer differentiation. Malate dehydrogenase patterns, which were produced only by the pig Campylobacters, provided three groups but these did not correlate with isolation source. It is concluded that there is no qualitative difference in the Campylobacter population of the gut of healthy and dysenteric pigs.

THE ROLE OF TOXOPLASMOSIS IN ABORTION

Abstract A prospective study of 5,000 obstetric patients indicated that: (1) Habitual abortion was not associated with Toxoplasma antibody; (2) sporadic abortion was significantly associated with Toxoplasma antibodies, which suggests but does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship; and (3) none of the 260 abortions were shown to be due to acute toxoplasmosis.

The role of toxoplasmosis in abortion

A prospective study of 5,000 obstetric patients indicated that: (1) Habitual abortion was not associated with Toxoplasma antibody; (2) sporadic abortion was significantly associated with Toxoplasma antibodies, which suggests but does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship; and (3) none of the 260 abortions were shown to be due to acute toxoplasmosis.

A Review of the Causes of Reproductive Failure in Swine

SUMMARY Environmental and hereditary factors which are known to affect reproduction in swine are summarized. Losses in terms of eliminated breeding stock are considerable. It is estimated that 20–25 per cent of gilts and 12–14 per cent of sows may be eliminated due to infertility (non-pregnant, anoestrous, genital defects). Piglet mortality from parturition to weaning amounts to no less than 1:5–25 per cent. The average litter size is influenced by parity, age of sperms, ovulated eggs and maternal environmental factors. Conception rates are highly influenced by the number of natural matings or artificial inseminations per oestrous period. Anoestrus or silent heat is one of the foremost single restraining factors for the full utilization of the reproductive capacity of pigs. Prolonged anoestrous periods occur particularly in sows after their first farrowing. Continuous high plane feeding (protein as well as energy) after the lactation period and until mating must be considered of paramount importance for heat manifestation in breeding sows. The “flushing” technique seems to show correlation between the feeding level and the ovulation rate in pigs. Certain minerals and vitamins, particularly manganese and vitamin A, are essential for normal reproduction in sows and gilts. Hormonal control of oestrus with gonadotrophins is used extensively in some countries but hormonal treatments of highly selected breeding stock is not advisable. At present synchronization of heat in pig populations needs further elucidation before this technique can be recommended as a routine procedure in the field. Strictly venereal diseases are not known to occur in pigs. Some infections (Brucella suis and certain Leptospira species) are widespread causes of abortion and stillbirth. Also viral agents (hog cholera, pseudorabies, SMEDI viruses) are known to cause foetal death in pigs. Different bacteria may cause sporadic abortion, stillbirth and less severe cases of endometritis (streptococci, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp., Escherichia coli a.o.). Malformations of the genital organs occur rather frequently in gilts and sows. Between normal breeding boars some degree of variation exists within their fecundation rate (approximately 10 per cent). Nearly 40–50 per cent of breeding boars are eliminated at an early age due to infertility (impotentia coeundi, poor semen quality). The productive efficiency of boars used for A.I. is three times that of boars used for natural matings. The total production costs of piglets produced by A.I. is about one-half the costs for production of piglets by natural mating. Therefore expansion of A.I. may be expected in the future and underlines the importance of controlling inherited abnormalities (malformations, chromosomal abnormalities, etc.). Some defects (atresia ani, congenital spinal cord and vertebral anomalies, myoclonia congenita and dermatosis vegetans) may occur with a frequency which necessitates immediate replacement of the boar.

The differentiation of some psittacosis-lymphogranuloma venereum gropu agents isolated from sheep and cattle.

Psittacosis-lymphogranuloma venereum group organisms (PLV) have been isolated from the feces of normal sheep (Kawakami et al, 1958; Dungworth and Cordy, 1962; Wilson and Dungworth, 1963) and of normal cattle (York and Baker, 1951; Wilson and Dungworth, 1962). They have been shown to be the cause of enzootic abortion (Stamp et al, 1950), pneumonitis (McKercher, 1952), and polyarthritis (Mendlowski et al, 1960) in sheep, and of sporadic encephalomyelitis (Wenner et al, 1953), pneumonitis (Matumoto et al, 1955), and abortion (Schoop and Kauker, 1956) in cattle.

Two Mares Treated with Morphinæ Hydrochloride in Cases of Sporadic Abortion

Two Mares Treated with Morphinæ Hydrochloride in Cases of Sporadic Abortion

Remarks on Sporadic Abortion in the Cow

Remarks on Sporadic Abortion in the Cow