Avaliação imunohistoquímica das lesões identificadas em vitelos infectados por Theileria annulata

Abstract

Various cases of multifocal to coalescent nodular skin lesions and lymph node enlargement, similar to multicentric malignant lymphoma, were registered in very young calves in the south of Portugal [1]. At necropsy, hemorrhagic nodules or nodules with a hemorrhagic halo were seen, particularly in the skin, subcutaneous tissue, skeletal and cardiac muscle, pharynx, trachea and intestinal serosa. Histologically nodules were formed by large, round, lymphoblastoid neoplastic-like cells. Immunohistochemistry identified these cells as mostly CD3 positive T lymphocytes and MAC387 positive macrophages. A marker for B lymphocytes (CD79αcy) labelled very few cells. Theileria annulata infected cells in these nodules were also identified by IHC, through the use of two monoclonal antibodies (1C7 and 1C12) diagnostic for the parasite. It was concluded that the pathological changes observed in the different organs and tissues were caused by proliferation of schizont-infected macrophages, which subsequently stimulate a severe uncontrolled proliferation of uninfected T lymphocytes.