A case report: Actinobaculum suis infection associated with formation of pyogranuloma, epididymitis and azoospermia in a boar

BACKGROUND

Actinobaculum suis is a bacterium known to cause infections of the urogenital tract of sows. Infection can occur through close contact to boars, who frequently carry the pathogen in their preputial diverticulum but do not become clinically diseased themselves. In the current case, Actinobaculum suis was isolated from pyogranuloma of inflamed epididymis in a boar with poor fertility.

CASE PRESENTATION

Increased return to oestrus rate, which worsened after the purchase of a new boar, was reported in an organic farm in Switzerland. During herd examination, azoospermia of the boar was diagnosed, and slaughter, followed by examination of its urogenital tract, was carried out. Pathologically, pyogranuloma formation and epididymitis were diagnosed. Bacteriology of the pyogranulomas showed growth of Actinobaculum suis and mixed flora. After the boar was replaced, the return to oestrus rate improved tremendously.

CONCLUSION

A close relative of Actinobaculum suis, namely Actinotignum schaalii, has already been associated with epididymitis in humans. Considering the present case and the parallels in human medicine, Actinobaculum suis should be included in the list of differentials of boars with poor fertility.

[Parameters of a reproductive function in males with a history of genital chlamydial infection]

We examined 243 males using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), seeding, spermogram, morphological examination of spermatozoa, electrospermography, enzyme immunoassay (antibodis to chlamydia in blood serum and seminal plasma, blood hormones). Statistics were obtained with parametric and nonparametric methods. A total of 148 patients were divided into three groups. Group 1 (n = 57) consisted of males who had previously had chlamydiasis. Their blood serum and/or seminal plasma contained antichlamydial IgA or IgG. Neither seeding nor PCR detected genital infections. Group 2 consisted of 18 patients infected with C. trachomatis. Control patients (n = 73) had no genital infections, chlamydial antibodies were not detected. Normozoospermia was diagnosed in 28% males with chlamydial infection history, 11% patients infected with chlamydia and 23% controls. Asthenozoospermia was detected in 69, 89 and 73% patients, respectively. Among chlamydial infection convalescents were patients with obstructive azoospermia (2%) which was not found in infected and healthy males.

The effectiveness of modified sperm washes in severely oligoasthenozoospermic men infected with human immunodeficiency and hepatitis C viruses

Men who are seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis C virus now can father children safely, thanks to sperm washing and nested polymerase chain-reaction techniques, followed by intracytoplasmic sperm injection. However, in a small percentage of such patients, it is impossible to recover spermatozoa after said procedures because of their highly impaired spermatogenesis. We have established that less rigorous methods, such as repeated centrifugation, yield nested polymerase chain-reaction HIV- and hepatitis C virus-negative specimens, even in sperm samples from men with severe oligoasthenozoospermia.