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The primary objective of this study was to ascertain the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility, and biofilm production of Staphylococcus aureusstrains isolated from sheep and goats affected with mastitis and endometritis in Beni Suef governorate, Egypt. In sheep and goats mastitic milk samples, the prevalence rate of S. aureus was found to be 26% (32 isolates out of 122 samples), while it was 7.75% (9 isolates out of 116 samples) in endometritis samples. The antibiogram for S. aureus isolates from sheep and goats mastitis cases revealed resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (78.1%), cefotaxime (75%), cephalexin (71.8%), amoxicillin (68.7%), and ceftriaxone (66.7%). On the other hand, the recovered S. aureus isolates from sheep and goats with endometritis revealed resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (88.9%), cefotaxime (77.8%), and ceftriaxone (66.7%). Phenotypic detection of biofilm on Congo Red agar revealed that 20 Staphylococci isolates (66.67%) formed biofilms, out of them, 16 isolates (53.33%) from mastitis and 4 isolates (13.34%) from endometritis. The results of molecular characterization showed that all the four tested S. aureus isolates were found to possess the mecA gene, while the tetK gene was found in three out of four isolates. In relation to genes associated with virulence, all four isolates were tested positive for coa and three out of four isolates tested positive for icaA. In conclusion, S. aureus stands as a prominent pathogen in cases of mastitis and endometritis in both sheep and goats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertility deficiency is one of the major causes which lead to a decrease in river buffalo’s production that has great economic importance in Egypt. Infection of the endometrium with different types of bacteria leads to inflammations causing infertility in severe conditions. The difference in cytokines expression profiles has a role in the early detection of subclinical endometritis-infected buffalo. The present study aimed to assess some cytokine gene expressions in endometritis-infected buffaloes using RT-qPCR. The uteri samples were collected from 60 animals with inflammation signs and other 60 healthy animals. RNA was extracted from uteri samples and cDNA was synthesized from extracted RNA. Gene expressions were detected by real-time PCR using SYBR Green PCR Master-Mix and primers specific for tested genes (IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL- 10 and TNF-α). Cycle threshold (Ct) mean values of triplicate samples were utilized for analysis. Chi-square test was utilized to determine the significant differences (P<0.05) in gene expression of tested genes using GAPDH as a house-keeping gene for normalization. Bacterial examination of uteri from infected buffaloes showed the presence of bacterial contamination with Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Proteus vulgaris, whereas the uteri of apparently-healthy animals did not show any of the previous pathogenic bacteria. The RT-qPCR results revealed that the gene expression of three tested cytokines; IL-1α. IL-1β and IL-6increased in endometritis-infected buffaloes with 1.3, 1.7 and 5 folds, respectively compared to their expression in healthy animals. On the contrary, the expressions of two other genes: IL-10 and TNF-α showed down regulations with 0.2 and 0.4 folds, respectively in infected buffaloes when compared with those in uninfected animals. It can be concluded that the tested cytokine genes in endometritis-infected buffaloes showed different responses to the endometritis infection, where three of them: IL-1α. IL-1β and IL-6 were up-regulated, whereas IL-10 and TNF-α were downregulated with different levels of significant values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to survey the prevalence of microbial isolates in the uterus of sub-fertile Arabian mares and to identify their existing antimicrobial sensitivities. In addition, to evaluate the efficacy of antimicrobial therapy based on the fertility outcomes determined by sonographic pregnancy diagnosis. Double guarded uterine swabs were collected from (barren) Arabian mares during mid-estrus. Based on the laboratory findings of microbial culture and antimicrobial sensitivity, mares were treated, inseminated and tested for pregnancy two weeks after ovulation. The predominant microbial isolates were Beta-hemolytic streptococci (BHS) (38.9%), Escherichia coli (E. coli) (33.3%), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (20.4%) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) (7.4%). Moreover, the sensitivity of BHS and E. coli isolates to cefepime was significantly higher (P< 0.05) than the rest of the antimicrobials (57.14% and 55.56%, respectively). However, S. aureus isolates did not display a significant difference regarding their antimicrobial sensitivities, its sensitivity to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid was the highest (36.37%). On the other hand, fluconazole was the favored antifungal in this study (100 % sensitivity). The pregnancy outcomes were variable depending on the type of microbial isolate and antimicrobial treatment; for instance, cefepime resulted in the highest pregnancy rates in BHS and S. aureus mare groups (66.67% and 100%, respectively). Interestingly, amikacin achieved the highest pregnancy rate in the E. coli group (66.67%). In conclusion, BHS is the dominant uterine isolate in Arabian sub-fertile mares. For most cases of bacterial endometritis, cefepime may be the antibiotic of choice and fluconazole may be the effective therapy in the case of C. albicans infection. However, standard diagnostic and treatment procedures should be used to minimize the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to elaborate Doppler ultrasonographic scan, genetic resistance and serum profile of markers associated with endometritis susceptibility in Egyptian buffalo-cows. The enrolled animals were designed as; twenty five apparently healthy buffalo-cows considered as a control group and twenty five infected buffalo with endometritis. There were significant (p < 0.05) increased of cervical diameter, endometrium thickness, uterine horn diameter, TAMEAN, TAMAX and blood flow through middle uterine artery with significant decrease of PI and RI values in endometritis buffalo-cows. Gene expression levels were considerably higher in endometritis-affected buffaloes than in resistant ones for the genes A2M, ADAMTS20, KCNT2, MAP3K4, MAPK14, FKBP5, FCAMR, TLR2, IRAK3, CCl2, EPHA4, and iNOS. The RXFP1, NDUFS5, TGF-β, SOD3, CAT, and GPX genes were expressed at substantially lower levels in endometritis-affected buffaloes. The PCR-DNA sequence verdicts of healthy and affected buffaloes revealed differences in the SNPs in the amplified DNA bases related to endometritis for the investigated genes. However, MAP3K4 elicited a monomorphic pattern. There was a significant decrease of red blood cells (RBCs) count, Hb and packed cell volume (PCV) with neutrophilia, lymphocytosis and monocytosis in endometritis group compared with healthy ones. The serum levels of Hp, SAA, Cp, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, NO and MDA were significantly (P˂0.05) increased, along with reduction of CAT, GPx, SOD and TAC in buffalo-cows with endometritis compared to healthy ones. The variability of Doppler ultrasonographic scan and studied genes alongside alterations in the serum profile of investigated markers could be a reference guide for limiting buffalo endometritis through selective breeding of natural resistant animals., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Pluriparus Ossimi (n = 50) ewes were used to investigate the immune profile of the affected ewes to accurately diagnose clinical and subclinical endometritis and associations with biochemical variables. Ewes were slaughtered and animals were classified into control (no fertility problems), subclinical endometritis (SCE) and clinical endometritis (CE) groups based on pre-slaughter determinations of conception failure. Serum was collected from ewes to estimate concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) as well as nitric oxide (NO) concentration. The results from immunological evaluations indicated there were greater (P < 0.001) serum concentrations of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and NO in ewes classified with SCE and CE as compared to ewes of the control group. Furthermore, values for concentrations of TNF-α were positively correlated with IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations in ewes of the SCE and CE groups. In ewes classified with CE and SCE there were greater (P < 0.01) concentrations of blood glucose, ALT, AST, urea and creatinine than in ewes of the control group. It is concluded that serum pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α are diagnostic markers for CE and SCE in ewes and serve as a criterion for different inflammatory complications in ewes classified as having CE or SCE., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)