Comparison of ante-mortem assays to assess progression/regression of paratuberculosis in individual dairy animals

An intra-laboratory cultural and real-time PCR method comparison and evaluation for the detection of subclinical paratuberculosis in dairy herds

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) is a vigorous microorganism which causes incurable chronic enteritis, Johne's disease (JD) in cattle. A target of control programmes for JD is to accurately detect MAP-infected cattle early to reduce disease transmission. The present study evaluated the efficacy of two different cultural procedures and a TaqMan real-time PCR assay for detection of subclinical paratuberculosis in dairy herds. Therefore, sixty-one faecal samples were collected from two Dutch dairy herds (n = 40 and n = 21, respectively) which were known to be MAP-ELISA positive. All individual samples were assessed using two different cultural protocols in two different laboratories. The first cultural protocol (first laboratory) included a decontamination step with 0.75% hexadecylpyridinium chloride (HPC) followed by inoculation on Herrold's egg yolk media (HEYM). The second protocol (second laboratory) comprised of a decontamination step using 4% NaOH and malachite green-oxalic acid followed by inoculation on two media, HEYM and in parallel on modified Löwenstein-Jensen media (mLJ). For the TaqMan real-time PCR assay, all faecal samples were tested in two different laboratories using TaqMan® MAP (Johne's) reagents (Life Technologies). The cultural procedures revealed positive reactions in 1.64% of the samples for cultivation protocol 1 and 6.56 and 8.20% of the samples for cultivation protocol 2, respectively. The results of the TaqMan real-time PCR performed in two different laboratories yielded 13.11 and 19.76% positive reaction. The kappa test showed proportional agreement 0.54 between the mLJ media (second laboratory) and TaqMan® real-time PCR method (second laboratory). In conclusion, the TaqMan real-time PCR could be a strongly useful and efficient assay for the detection of subclinical paratuberculosis in dairy cattle leading to an improvement in the efficiency of MAP control strategies.

Effects of the probiotic Lactobacillus animalis in murine Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infection

Background

MAP is a suspected zoonotic pathogen and the causative agent of Johne’s Disease in cattle and other ruminant animals. With over $1 billion dollars in loss to the dairy industry due to Johne’s Disease, efforts to eliminate or reduce MAP from cattle are of importance. The purpose of this study was to determine if daily intake of probiotics could eliminate or reduce Johne’s Disease associated symptoms and pathogenesis by MAP. Post infection, animals are often asymptomatic carriers with limited shedding of the pathogen, proving early detection to be difficult. Disease and symptoms often appear 3–4 years after infection with antibiotic treatment proving ineffective. Symptoms include chronic gastrointestinal inflammation leading to severe weight-loss from poor feed and water intake cause a wasting disease. These symptoms are similar to those found in individuals with Crohn’s Disease (CD); MAP has been implicated by not proven to be the causative agent of CD. Probiotics administered to livestock animals, including dairy and beef cattle have demonstrated improvements in cattle performance and health. Our objectives included determining the benefits of Lactobacillus animalis (strain name: NP-51) in MAP infected BALB/c mice by evaluating systemic and gastrointestinal response by the host and gut microbiota. Male and female animals were fed 1×10⁶ CFU/g probiotics in sterile, powdered mouse chow daily and infected with 1 × 10⁷ CFU/ml MAP and compared to controls. Animals were evaluated for 180 days to assess acute and chronic stages of disease, with sample collection from animals every 45 days. MAP concentrations from liver and intestinal tissues were examined using real time-PCR methods and the expression of key inflammatory markers were measured during MAP infection (interferon-gamma [IFN-Υ], Interleukin-1α, IL-12, IL-10, IL-6, and Tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]).

Results

Our results demonstrate administration of probiotics reduces production of IFN-Υ and IL-6 while increasing TNF-α and IL-17 in chronic disease; healthful immune responses that reduce chronic inflammation associated to MAP infection.

Conclusions

We observed that the immune system’s response in the presence of probiotics to MAP contributes towards host health by influencing the activity of the immune system and gut microbial populations.

Alteration of GI symptoms in a cow with Johne disease by the dietary organosulfur, 2-mercaptoethanol

Sub-phenotypes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis and some cases of irritable bowel syndrome-are generally considered a consequence of gastrointestinal inflammation of unknown etiology. Conventional therapy and more recently biologic agents, all with varying degrees of drawbacks, have resulted in improved control of these diseases. However, as the incidence and prevalence continue to rise, needs for prevention, permanent remission and cures remain unmet, plus there still remain needs for improved control of symptoms, such as pain and diarrhea. The case report herein describes a serendipitous, novel means for curtailing these symptoms associated with a bovine gastrointestinal disease that may have applicability for patients with diseases characterized by abdominal-visceral pain and diarrhea.

A Potential 'Curative' Modality for Crohn's Disease---Modeled after Prophylaxis of Bovine Johne's Disease

A naturally occurring, gastrointestinal disorder of ruminants (Johne's disease) is a chronic, debilitating, lethal disease. The causative agent is Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Exposure that leads to disease occurs primarily in utero and/or during the neonatal period. Outside a dietzia probiotic treatment, there are no preventive/curative therapies. Interestingly, MAP is at the center of a controversy as to its role (cause of, perpetuate of, innocent bystander) in Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, sarcoidosis, Blau syndrome, and multiple sclerosis-diseases in which the incidence of systemic MAP is higher than that in the general population. Conventional therapeutic modalities, including biologic agents, for the majority of these diseases are, in general, directed at curtailing processes that are an intricate part of inflammation, with goals to induce and maintain remission. Most possess side effects of varying severity, lose therapeutic value, and more importantly, few are directed at prevention, attainment of long lasting remissions or cures, and essential none at reduction/elimination of MAP. This report presents a rationale for how/why Dietzia subsp. C79793-74 should be clinically evaluated for efficacy in patients with IBD. Arguments are based on previous studies that demonstrated (a) clinical similarities of Johne's disease and Crohn's disease, (b) inhibition of growth of MAP by Dietzia under specific culture conditions, (c) safe usage for extended daily treatments of adult cattle (up to 24 months), and (d) when used as a probiotic, curtailed diarrhea and cured 40% of adult cattle with early stage paratuberculosis.

A 60-day probiotic protocol with Dietzia subsp. C79793-74 prevents development of Johne's disease parameters after in utero and/or neonatal MAP infection

The research reported herein was designed to assess whether the bacterium, Dietzia subspecies C79793-74, used as a probiotic, could prevent development of parameters indicative of bovine paratuberculosis after potential in utero, birthing and neonatal (colostrum) exposure to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Such exposure avenues are especially relevant for dairy farms practicing good management procedures since calves on these farms could be infected via dams that have yet to be identified as MAP-positive. Indeed, of 18 calves in the present study that became paratuberculosis parameter-positive, five had dams that were negative for all parameters pre-calving. Parameters used herein to define paratuberculosis status were serum ELISA, serum agar gel immunodiffusion, cultureable fecal MAP, histopathology at necropsy and clinical disease. Thirty-four newborn calves, whose dams were paratuberculosis-positive, were assigned to four different treatment groups. Ten were treated daily for 60 days with viable Dietzia added to their antibiotic-free milk feedings; none became positive for any parameter with age. In contrast, seven of eight calves that were not treated became positive for one or more paratuberculosis-associated parameter. Sixteen calves were treated with viable Dietzia for the first two days of life; eight were then not treated further, whereas the other eight were treated an additional 58 days with Dietzia added to tetracycline-fortified milk (Dietzia is sensitive to tetracycline). In these two groups, positivity developed in five of eight and six of eight, respectively. These results indicated that (a) a daily, 60-day treatment with viable Dietzia effectively prevented development of parameters indicative of paratuberculosis and (b) this treatment, in combination with good management practices, has the potential to eradicate MAP from animals/herds, which should curtail the spread of MAP. Such results should significantly reduce human exposure to MAP, which in turn, could have relevance for the controversial role of MAP in Crohn's disease, type-1 diabetes mellitus, sarcoidosis, Blau syndrome, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and multiple sclerosis.

Successful treatment of asymptomatic or clinically terminal bovine Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infection (Johne's disease) with the bacterium Dietzia used as a probiotic alone or in combination with dexamethasone: Adaption to chronic human diarrheal diseases

A naturally occurring gastrointestinal disease, primarily of ruminants (Johne disease), is a chronic debilitating disease that is caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). MAP infection occurs primarily in utero and in newborns. Outside our Dietzia probiotic treatment, there are no preventive/curative therapies for bovine paratuberculosis. Interestingly, MAP is at the center of controversy as to its role in (cause of) Crohn disease (CD) and more recently, its role in diabetes, ulcerative colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); the latter two, like CD, are considered to be a result of chronic intestinal inflammation. Treatments, both conventional and biologic agents, which induce and maintain remission are directed at curtailing processes that are an intricate part of inflammation. Most possess side effects of varying severity, lose therapeutic value, and more importantly, none routinely result in prevention and/or cures. Based on (a) similarities of Johne disease and Crohn disease, (b) a report that Dietzia inhibited growth of MAP under specific culture conditions, and (c) findings that Dietzia when used as a probiotic, (i) was therapeutic for adult bovine paratuberculosis, and (ii) prevented development of disease in MAP-infected calves, the goal of the present investigations was to design protocols that have applicability for IBD patients. Dietzia was found safe for cattle of all ages and for normal and immunodeficient mice. The results strongly warrant clinical evaluation as a probiotic, in combination with/without dexamethasone.