João Marcelo Azevedo de Paula Antunes, Susan Dora Allendorf, Camila Michele Appolinário, Didier Quevedo Cagnini, Paula Ripamonte Figueiredo, José Buratini Júnior, Joaquin Vicente Baños, Katherine M Kocan, José de la Fuente, Jane Megid
The ovine brucellosis caused by Brucella ovis has tropism for reproductive tissues but until now the mechanism of bacterial persistence is not understood. Cytokine expression profiles were studied for 8 months in rams after being experimentally infected with the rough virulent strain of B. ovis (R-B. ovis) to study the pathogenesis of B. ovis and immune mechanism possibly associated to bacteria tropism and persistence. The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of interleukin-1α (IL-1α), IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, interferon-γ (INF-γ) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) cytokines were quantified by real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) in reproductive tissues (epididymus, testicles, ampolae, vesicular glands and bulbourethral glands), and non-reproductive (liver, spleen and kidneys) tissues at 30, 60, 120 and 240 days post infection (dpi)...
January 25, 2013: Veterinary Microbiology