Pathological and molecular study of kidneys in apparently healthy cattle and sheep with special reference to Leptospira species in central and northern Jordan

TL;DR

This study found that a significant number of healthy-looking cattle and sheep in Jordan had kidney issues linked to Leptospira bacteria, which could help improve disease prevention and treatment.

Contribution

The first study to associate pathogenic Leptospira species with kidney disorders in Jordanian cattle and sheep.

Findings

23.1% of the samples tested positive for Leptospira spp. 16S rRNA.

Four Leptospira sequences showed high similarity to L. borgpetersenii and L. interrogans strains.

Common kidney lesions included acute tubular necrosis and interstitial nephritis.

Abstract

Renal pathological conditions can cause significant economic losses for livestock owners. This study investigated and described the gross pathology and histopathology of lesions found in the kidneys of sheep and cattle, with particular attention to the presence of Leptospira spp.

Three hundred and sixty kidneys from apparently healthy sheep and cattle (208 and 152, respectively) were collected from slaughterhouses in Jordan for gross and histopathological examinations, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, and gene sequencing of Leptospira spp.

Histopathological analysis of the samples revealed the following conditions: interstitial nephritis (4.44%), glomerulonephritis (4.16%), acute tubular necrosis (17.22%), and renal congestion (4.72%). In addition, in 26.9% of the samples, hyaline material was observed in the interstitium of the cortex and medulla. The PCR results revealed that 83 (23.1%) of the 360 samples were positive for Leptospira spp. 16S rRNA, 42/152 (28%) of cattle, and 41/208 (20%) of sheep. Four samples (two sheep and two cattle) were sequenced and deposited in GenBank with accession numbers from OL701310 to OL701313. Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search and nucleotide similarities between OL701311 and OL701313 resulted in the highest similarities with different Leptospira borgpetersenii strains, whereas OL701310 showed the highest nucleotide similarity (99.2%) with the Leptospira interrogans strain. Similarly, phylogenetic analysis revealed that OL701311 to OL701313 clustered together with different serovars of L. borgpetersenii, whereas OL701310 clustered with the L. interrogans clade.

This is the first study to reveal a close association between pathogenic Leptospira spp. and kidney disorders in Jordanian cattle and sheep. These findings may help expand the current understanding of the causes and mechanisms of renal disease in cattle and sheep and contribute to developing more effective prevention and treatment programs.

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