Prevalence Study of <i>Trichomonas gallinae</i> in Domestic Pigeons in Northeastern Beijing and Experimental Model of Trichomoniasis in White King Squabs Measuring In Situ Apoptosis and Immune Factors in Crop and Esophagus
Aixin Ni,
Yunlei Li,
Adamu Mani Isa,
Panlin Wang,
Lei Shi,
Jing Fan,
Pingzhuang Ge,
Linlin Jiang,
Yanyan Sun,
Hui Ma,
Jilan Chen
Affiliations
Aixin Ni
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Yunlei Li
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Adamu Mani Isa
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Panlin Wang
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Lei Shi
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Jing Fan
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Pingzhuang Ge
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Linlin Jiang
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Yanyan Sun
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Hui Ma
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Jilan Chen
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Trichomonas gallinae (T. gallinae) is a flagellated protozoan and the causative agent of trichomoniasis, or canker, in birds. In the current study, the prevalence of T. gallinae was firstly investigated in five breeds. According to the results of the prevalence study, White King pigeons were selected as the experimental animals. A total of 135 White King squabs at one day of age were randomly divided into two groups and raised in separate isolators. The challenged group (N = 100) was challenged intranasally with 5 × 106 parasites/mL of the T. gallinae strain, and the control group (N = 35) was intranasally administered medium of equivalent volume. At 1, 2, 3 and 5 days post infection (DPIs), the crops and esophagi were collected for RNA extraction and formaldehyde fixation. The results showed that prevalence of T. gallinae in the five breeds ranged from 27.13% (White Carneau) to 43.14% (White King). After the challenge, mild microscopic lesions were observed in both tissues. Apoptosis rates were higher in the challenged group than in the control group at 2 and 5 DPIs in the crop and at 1, 2 and 7 DPIs in the esophagus. For both tissues, relative expression of IL-1β increased dramatically at the beginning and decreased at 5 DPIs, and TGF-β increased stably in the challenged group.
