Association between faecal load of <it>lawsonia intracellularis</it> and pathological findings of proliferative enteropathy in pigs with diarrhoea

Abstract

Abstract Background The study was designed to investigate correlation between histological findings of Lawsonia intracellularis in porcine cases of diarrhoea and the quantitative detection of Lawsonia intracellularis in faeces. A total of 156 pigs (10 to 70 days post weaning) with diarrhoea were randomly selected from 20 herds: The pigs were subjected to necropsy, histopathology, immunohistochemistry and faecal quantification of Lawsonia intracellularis by real time PCR. Results The median Lawsonia intracellularis excretion was significantly higher in pigs with gross lesions of proliferative enteropathy (median excretion: 5.92 log10 bacteria/g faeces) compared to pigs without gross lesions of proliferative enteropathy (median excretion: 10 bacteria/g faeces) (PL. intracellularis excretion was 0.50 (PLawsonia intracellularis excretion level for increasing proliferative enteropathy histopathology and immunohistochemistry scores was demonstrated (PPL. intracellularis excretion was 0.67 (PL. intracellularis excretion was 0.77 (P Conclusions The histological and quantitative PCR detection of Lawsonia intracellularis were correlated in pigs with diarrhoea. Overall the results suggest that clinically important levels for Lawsonia intracellularis excretion in faeces may be established. Such clinical threshold levels may be used in practice to confirm a diagnosis of Lawsonia intracellularis associated diarrhoea.

Keywords

• Diarrhoea
• Immunohistochemistry
• <it>Lawsonia intracellularis</it>
• Quantitative real time PCR
• Pig