Acute Hemorrhagic Diarrhea Syndrome in Dogs

Acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome is defined as sudden onset of severe bloody diarrhea frequently associated with vomiting, which results in severe, sometimes life-threatening dehydration. Although there is strong evidence that clostridial overgrowth and toxin release is responsible for the pathogenesis of the disease, the diagnosis is still based on exclusion of other causes for acute hemorrhagic diarrhea. With early and appropriate treatment, mainly based on fluid therapy, the prognosis is good and complications such as sepsis or severe hypoalbuminemia rarely occur.

Bioinformatics analysis of NetF proteins for designing a multi-epitope vaccine against Clostridium perfringens infection

Clostridium perfringens is an important human and animal pathogen that is the primary causative agent of necrotizing enteritis and enterotoxemia in many types of animals. C. perfringens produces a variety of toxins, including NetF which may plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of foal and canine necrotizing enteritis. In this study, we used several bioinformatics methods to analyze various aspects of the NetF proteins, including the physicochemical properties, secondary and tertiary structures, and the dominant B-cell and T-cell epitopes. The results showed that NetF protein was a stable and hydrophilic protein. The secondary structure of the NetF protein consisted of 2.62% alpha helixes, 6.56% beta turns, 38.69% extended strands and 52.13% random coils. Moreover, several potential B and T-cell epitopes were identified for NetF. In addition, the obtained findings from antigenicity and allergenicity evaluation remarked that this protein is immunogenic and non-allergen. Based on the results of Ramachandran plot, 94.22%, 5. 42%, and 0.36% of amino acid residues were incorporated in the favored, allowed, and outlier regions, respectively. This study provides a foundation for further investigations, and laid a theoretical basis for the development of an appropriate vaccine against C. perfringens infection.

NetF-producing Clostridium perfringens and its associated diseases in dogs and foals

The role of type A Clostridium perfringens in canine acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome and foal necrotizing enteritis is poorly characterized. However, a highly significant association between the presence of novel toxigenic C. perfringens and these specific enteric diseases has been described. These novel toxigenic strains produce 3 novel putative toxins, which have been designated NetE, NetF, and NetG. Although not conclusively demonstrated, current evidence suggests that NetF is likely the major virulence factor in strains responsible for canine acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome and foal necrotizing enteritis. NetF is a beta-pore-forming toxin that belongs to the same toxin superfamily as CPB and NetB toxins produced by C. perfringens. The netF gene is encoded on a conjugative plasmid that, in the case of netF, also carries another putative toxin gene, netE. In addition, these strains consistently also carry a cpe tcp-conjugative plasmid, and a proportion also carry a separate netG tcp-conjugative plasmid. The netF and netG genes form part of a locus with all the features of the pathogenicity loci of tcp-conjugative plasmids. The netF-positive isolates are clonal in origin and fall into 2 clades. Disease in dogs or foals can be associated with either clade. Thus, these are strains with unique virulence-associated characteristics associated with serious and sometimes fatal cases of important enteric diseases in 2 animal species.

The incidence of Clostridioides difficile and Clostridium perfringens netF-positive strains in diarrheic dogs

The aim of this study was to examine the incidence of Clostridioides (previously Clostridium) difficile and Clostridium perfringens in the feces of diarrheic and non-diarrheic dogs. Also, the presence of other common canine enteropathogens was examined. Toxigenic C. difficile and C. perfringens positive for the NetF-encoding gene (netF) were detected in 11 (11.9%) and seven (7.6%) diarrheic dogs, respectively. Three dogs were diagnosed simultaneously with toxigenic C. difficile and netF-positive C. perfringens. Among other enteropathogens, Giardia sp. was the most common agent detected in dogs positive for toxigenic C. difficile or netF-positive C. perfringens. The results suggest that C. difficile and C. perfringens occur more frequently as a primary cause of diarrhea.