Pathomorphological findings of Mortellaro disease in dairy cattle

Mortellaro disease is an infection caused by mostly spirochete bacteria in dairy cows, sheep, and goats. The aim of the present study was to define to Mortellaro disease pathomorphologically and immunohistochemically and investigate whether cell-cell adhesion connections are lost in cell proliferation. Tissue samples were collected from underfoots of Holstein (n: 6) and Swiss Brown (n: 15) dairy cattle. The sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and Warthin-Starry (WS) for isolation of spirochetes histopathologically and with P-catenin and PCNA primary antibodies immunohistochemically. Histopathologically, number of the cells in the stratum spinosum layer increased excessively, and it gave finger-like extensions to the dermis. Black stained spirochetes were detected among enlarged keratinocytes and inflammatory cells in WS staining. beta-catenin was strongly positive in the cell membranes of epithelial cells in all slides. PCNA also gave positive reaction moderately (n: 18) and strongly (n: 3) in nuclei of epithelial cells. It was observed that P-catenin cell-cell adhesion connections did not impair in the disease, so this is thought to positively affect the prognosis of the disease. The high expression of PCNA showed that the mitotic activity was high and explained the formation of wart-like. As a result, while the disease does not have a poor prognosis, the disease has a negative economic impact, and the economical results of this disease might be much greater than the treatment costs. It is still seen in our country and causes in loss of yield for the economy of country.