Vet World   Vol.12   August-2019  Article-23

Research Article

Veterinary World, 12(8): 1332-1340

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2019.1332-1340

Immune cell pathology in rabbit hemorrhagic disease

Anna Babken Semerjyan1, Mariam Armenak Sargsyan2, Hranush Harutyun Arzumanyan3, Lina Hayrapet Hakobyan3, Liana Onik Abroyan3, Zara Babken Semerjyan3, Aida Sergey Avetisyan3, Elena Michael Karalova3, Davit Mihran Manukyan1, Hripsime Shavarsh Matevosyan1, Nikolay Fyodor Krasnikov1, and Zaven Alexandr Karalyan1,3
1. Department of Medical Biology, Yerevan State Medical University, Yerevan, Armenia.
2. Department of Epidemiology and Parasitology, Armenian National Agrarian University, Yerevan, Armenia.
3. Laboratory of Cell Biology and Virology, Institute of Molecular Biology of NAS RA, Yerevan, Armenia.

Background and Aim: The aim of this research was to study the effect of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) on the host immune response by examining the cellular composition/pathology of lymphoid organs and serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ).

Materials and Methods: Nine adult rabbits were inoculated with 1 ml of 10% infected liver homogenate, and three rabbits served as controls. The rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD)-induced animals were studied on 3 consecutive days post-infection. Diagnosis of RHD was made through routine hemagglutination tests and the polymerase chain reaction. Blood smears and tissue samples from bone marrow (BM), spleen, lymph nodes, and liver were analyzed for cell composition and cytopathology. Serum levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: RHD showed a decreased absolute cell count of blood as well as lymph nodes, spleen, and BM cell populations with marked left shift. This was seen as a progressive rise in immature and blast cells. Quantitative cellular changes were accompanied by an increase in specific inflammatory cytokines. Immunocytopathological alterations were evidenced by: Vacuolized, hyperactivated tissue macrophages, finding of Dohle bodies in neutrophils, and activated lymphocytes with increased nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio. Cytoplasmic eosinophilic viral inclusions found in tissue (liver, spleen, and BM) macrophages were shown for the 1st time in RHD. Megakaryocytic emperipolesis was a common feature of RHD.

Conclusion: These studies suggest that RHDV induces pathology in leukocytes due to hyperactivation with left shift (toward immature stages of the different cell lineages). Macrophages are increased in number and show an expressed cytopathic effect often accompanied by viral eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusions. They also developed a secretory activation (increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines). Keywords: cytopathology, emperipolesis, eosinophilic viral inclusions, immune response, macrophages, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus.

Keywords: cytopathology, emperipolesis, eosinophilic viral inclusions, immune response, macrophages, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus.

How to cite this article: Semerjyan AB, Sargsyan MA, Arzumanyan HH, Hakobyan LH, Abroyan LO, Semerjyan ZB, Avetisyan AS, Karalova EM, Manukyan DM, Matevosyan HS, Krasnikov NF, Karalyan ZA (2019) Immune cell pathology in rabbit hemorrhagic disease, Veterinary World, 12(8): 1332-1340.

Received: 30-04-2019  Accepted: 11-07-2019     Published online: 28-08-2019

Corresponding author: Anna Babken Semerjyan   E-mail: annasemerjian@hotmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.1332-1340

Copyright: Semerjyan, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.