Biomaterial Database

Up-regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA in dogs experimentally infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. 1999

L Härter, and R K Straubinger, and B A Summers, and H N Erb, and M J Appel

James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.

The up-regulation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA was determined by RT-PCR in 25 tissues each from 22 specific pathogen-free (SPF) dogs experimentally infected with Borrelia burgdorferi by tick exposure and from five uninfected control dogs. Using primers specific for a homologous region of the human and canine iNOS sequence, and canine macrophage mRNA, we isolated and partially sequenced canine iNOS. A sequence of 1775 bases was obtained and primers specific for canine iNOS mRNA constructed to investigate the expression of iNOS in dog tissues in response to infection with B. burgdorferi. In 12 out of 22 dogs infected with B. burgdorferi, acute lameness occurred within 55-82 days after infection whereas the other 10 dogs showed no or only mild clinical signs despite persistent infection up to Day 175. The numbers of iNOS mRNA-positive tissues in dogs with acute lameness were significantly higher than in dogs without lameness, while uninfected dogs showed only negligible iNOS expression. Dogs with acute lameness also had higher numbers of borrelia-positive tissues as well as higher scores in histopathological evaluations than infected dogs without lameness. Our results show that the expression of iNOS mRNA is related to the number of B. burgdorferi-positive tissues and the severity of inflammation as assessed by histopathology. These results implicate an up-regulation of the iNOS mRNA as part of the host's immune response to borrelia infection and a possible role for NO in the pathogenesis of canine Lyme arthritis.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007596	Joints	Also known as articulations, these are points of connection between the ends of certain separate bones, or where the borders of other bones are juxtaposed.	Joint
D007794	Lameness, Animal	A departure from the normal gait in animals.	Gait Disorders, Animal,Animal Gait Disorder,Animal Gait Disorders,Animal Lameness,Animal Lamenesses,Disorder, Animal Gait,Disorders, Animal Gait,Gait Disorder, Animal,Lamenesses, Animal
D008193	Lyme Disease	An infectious disease caused by a spirochete, BORRELIA BURGDORFERI, which is transmitted chiefly by Ixodes dammini (see IXODES) and pacificus ticks in the United States and Ixodes ricinis (see IXODES) in Europe. It is a disease with early and late cutaneous manifestations plus involvement of the nervous system, heart, eye, and joints in variable combinations. The disease was formerly known as Lyme arthritis and first discovered at Old Lyme, Connecticut.	Lyme Borreliosis,B. burgdorferi Infection,Borrelia burgdorferi Infection,Lyme Arthritis,Arthritis, Lyme,B. burgdorferi Infections,Borrelia burgdorferi Infections,Borreliosis, Lyme,Disease, Lyme
D008297	Male		Males
D008969	Molecular Sequence Data	Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.	Sequence Data, Molecular,Molecular Sequencing Data,Data, Molecular Sequence,Data, Molecular Sequencing,Sequencing Data, Molecular
D004283	Dog Diseases	Diseases of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). This term does not include diseases of wild dogs, WOLVES; FOXES; and other Canidae for which the heading CARNIVORA is used.	Canine Diseases,Canine Disease,Disease, Canine,Disease, Dog,Diseases, Canine,Diseases, Dog,Dog Disease
D004285	Dogs	The domestic dog, Canis familiaris, comprising about 400 breeds, of the carnivore family CANIDAE. They are worldwide in distribution and live in association with people. (Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th ed, p1065)	Canis familiaris,Dog
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia