Activity of mucosubstances and the goblet cell count in the large intestine of piglets infected with the coccidium, Isospora suis |
| |
| Authors: | M Kudweis Z Lojda J Vítovec B Koudela |
| |
| Institution: | Parazitologicky ústav CSAV, Ceské Bud?jovice. |
| |
| Abstract: | In a group of conventional and gnotobiotic piglets experimentally infected with the Isospora suis coccidia the quantitative presence of acid and neutral mucous substances in the large intestine and the counts of goblet cells in the surface mucosa and in Lieberkühnis crypts (in the following text called just the crypts) were investigated. In conventional piglets infected with the dose of 200,000 oocysts of I. suis coccidia the lowest content of acid mucous substances was recorded from the eighth to tenth day after infection (DAI). A decrease in the activity of neutral mucous substances was somewhat slower. The lowest count of goblet cells was found on DAI 9, especially on the surface mucosa (4.89 to 4.91 goblet cells per 10 enterocytes). There was observed no difference in the piglets infected the first and fifth day after parturition (DAP). Gnotobiotic piglets infected with the dose of 100,000 oocysts of I. suis coccidia on DAP 1 showed the lowest content of mucous substances in the large intestine from the ninth to tenth day after infection. Unlike the conventional piglets, in gnotobiotic piglets there was recorded a decrease in the content of acid and neutral mucous substances. The gnotobiotic piglets had the lowest counts of goblet cells in the surface mucosa (10:4.57) and in the crypts (10:7.71) on DAI 9. As to the quantitative proportions, in the conventional and gnotobiotic piglets neutral mucous substances prevailed on the other days (DAI 3-7 and DAI 11), similarly like on DAI 8. The results of this investigation revealed a functional disease of the large intestine in conventional and gnotobiotic piglets infected experimentally with the Isospora suis coccidia. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
