Serum proteomic analysis of zoonotic-related abortion in cows

Abortion in cows represents a serious burden for dairy industry with a great economic impact. Most abortions are due to infectious diseases, several of them are zoonoses. Bacterial zoonoses such as leptospirosis, Q fever and brucellosis are important cattle infections associated with intrauterine death and reduced fertility. The aim of this study was to explore differential proteome profile in serum of cows that aborted due to subclinical infection of leptospirosis and Q fever in order to uncover the pathophysiological molecular mechanisms involved in abortion caused by infectious diseases.The study was conducted on 15 dairy cows divided into three groups: Group I (control, healthy cows, n=5) ; Group II (cows infected with Coxiella, n=5) and Group III (cows infected with Leptospira, n=5). Group II and Group III comprised cows that have aborted. In collected sera, 1D- and 2D-electrophoresis were carried out and the mass spectra were acquired with an Ultraflex III MALDI-TOF/TOF spectrometer (Bruker-Daltonics).Six proteins were found to be (p≤0.05) either up-regulated or down-regulated in bovine sera with Q fever and leptospirosis in comparison to the control. This homology between the two pathologies might suggest that they share some common features that can cause abortion.