Poster Presentation The Prato Conference on the Pathogenesis of Bacterial Infections of Animals 2016

THE OVINE GALLBLADDER: A PROTECTED NICHE FOR CAMPYLOBACTER JEJUNI? (#62)

Amanda J Kreuder 1 , Victoria Lashley 1 , Michael J Yaeger 1 , Jennifer A Schleining 1 , Paul J Plummer 1
  1. Iowa State University, Ames, IOWA, United States

Persistence of Campylobacter jejuni within flocks is of major concern from both a zoonotic health risk and as a risk for abortion in small ruminants.  The recent emergence of the C. jejuni sheep abortion clone IA 3902 within the United States over the last several decades to become the predominant isolate of Campylobacter identified in sheep abortion outbreaks suggests that this strain not only is able to cause disease but is able to maintain itself within the sheep population.  Abattoir studies have frequently identified the gallbladder as a site of positive culture for C. jejuni despite the assumed inhospitable nature of this bile-rich environment.  The goal of this study was to determine if previously identified putative growth factors for C. jejuni were located in the ovine gallbladder and to assess the location of infection within the gallbladder by C. jejuni.  Sheep gallbladders were directly inoculated with C. jejuni IA 3902 and following incubation samples were collected for histopathology, histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, and scanning electron microscopy.  The results of this study indicate that putative growth factors for C. jejuni such as neutral mucins, acid mucins, and L-fucose are present within the deep glands and on the mucosal surface of the ovine gallbladder.  Immunohistochemistry identification of C. jejuni also within the deep mucosal glands indicates that this location may play an important role in providing a protected niche within the harsh gallbladder environment for C. jejuni survival and long-term carriage.