关键词:
Nocardioform
Placentitis
Equine
Abortion
摘要:
Placentitis is the leading cause of infectious abortion in the horse and contributes to roughly 19% of all abortions in the United States. A type of placental infection, nocardioform placentitis (NP) is associated with gram-positive branching actinomycetes localized within the ventral body of the feto-maternal interface to create a lymphoplasmacytic mucoid lesion. While the etiology of this disease is poorly described, this placental infection continues to cause episodic abortions in addition to weak and/or growth retarded neonates. The goal of the present study was to perform a comprehensive analysis of pregnancies associated with a nocardioform-affected placenta and make inferences into the epidemi-ology of this elusive disease. To do so, 264 mares were enrolled in the study, with 145 as having sus-pected disease (n = 145;NP) either based on pregnancy-related complications or postpartum placental evaluation, while an additional 119 were enrolled as healthy pregnancies (n = 119;CON). Following diagnosis as either NP or CON based on gross and histopathology at the University of Kentucky Veteri-nary Diagnostic Laboratory, information was gathered on the mares and neonates for comparisons be-tween diseased and healthy pregnancies. Clinically, a significant portion of diseased mares had clinical indications of NP, including premature mammary gland development, thickening of the placenta noted on transrectal ultrasonography, and separation between the chorioallantois and endometrium noted on abdominal ultrasonography, while vulvar discharge was not commonly noted. Additionally, NP was correlated with increased mare age, decreased gestational length, and decreased neonatal weight, although neonatal IgG and WBC were comparable to CON. Incidence of NP was not correlated with last breeding date, pre-and post-breeding therapeutics, parity, prophylactic medications, or housing. Addi-tionally, NP did not affect postpartum fertility. While NP was associated with a poor neonatal