Table 3.
Results of PCR, histology and IHC in tissues of foetuses/lambs and relationship with maternal serostatus
| Sample 1 | Year | Maternal serostatus | Results obtained in tissues from foetuses/lambs 4 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCR | Histology 5 | IHC 6 | |||||||||
| N. caninum | T. gondii | N. caninum | T. gondii | ||||||||
| N. caninum PP 2 | T. gondii titre 3 | Brain | Liver | Heart | Lung | Brain | Brain lesions | Brain | Brain | ||
| 1 | 2011 | 72.5 | < 16 | 2/2 | na | na | na | - | na | na | na |
| 2 | 2011 | 86.3 | 32 | 2/2 | - | 1/2 | - | - | na | na | na |
| 3 | 2012 | 89.9 | < 16 | 2/2 | - | - | - | - | na | na | na |
| 4$ | 2012 | 44.0 | < 16 | 3/3 | 1/3 | - | - | - | ** | + | - |
| 5 | 2011 | 65.1 | < 16 | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 | - | - | na | na | na |
| 6 | 2011 | 65.1 | < 16 | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 | - | - | na | na | na |
| 7# | 2011 | 79.3 | < 16 | 2/2 | na | na | na | - | na | na | na |
| 8 | 2011 | 0.0 | < 16 | - | nd | nd | nd | - | na | na | na |
| 9 | 2011 | 52.0 | < 16 | 2/2 | - | - | - | - | na | na | na |
| 10 | 2011 | 94.1 | 32 | - | nd | nd | nd | - | na | na | na |
| 11 | 2011 | 94.1 | 32 | 1/2 | - | - | - | - | na | na | na |
| 12 | 2011 | 82.1 | < 16 | 3/3 | - | - | - | - | - | + | - |
| 13 | 2011 | 0.0 | < 16 | - | nd | nd | nd | - | * | - | - |
| 14 | 2012 | 1.4 | < 16 | - | nd | nd | nd | - | Unrelated | - | - |
| 15 | 2012 | 28.1 | 16 | 3/3 | na | na | na | - | na | na | na |
| 16a | 2012 | 0.0 | 16 | - | nd | nd | nd | - | na | na | na |
| 17ª | 2012 | 0.0 | < 16 | - | nd | nd | nd | - | na | na | na |
| 18b | 2012 | 0.0 | < 16 | - | nd | nd | nd | - | * | - | - |
| 19b | 2012 | 0.0 | < 16 | - | nd | nd | nd | - | - | - | - |
| 20 | 2012 | 64.6 | < 16 | 3/3 | na | na | na | - | * | + | - |
| 21 | 2012 | 98.9 | < 16 | 3/3 | 2/3 | 3/3 | 1/3 | - | ** | + | - |
11-4: aborted foetus; 5–19: stillborn; 20–21: newborn with neurological disorders; $: In this sample, parasite was also detected in placenta, by PCR and IHC; #All organs were analyzed for the presence of bacteria and viruses causing ovine abortions, and the results were negative; a,b: lambs indicated by the same superscript letter were twins; 2Positivity Percentage (PP) as determined by ELISA (cut off ≥ 7.0%); 3Titre determined by agglutination (cut off ≥ 1:64);
4Fractions represent the number of positive tissue samples/total number of samples checked by PCR; (−): negative results; na: samples were not available or suitable for analysis; nd: not determined when the target organ (brain) was negative by PCR; 5Histological features were classified according to previous descriptions [21] as unrelated, consistent (*) or characteristic (**) lesions of protozoan infection.