Background: Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease in animals and humans caused by Brucella abortus. The pathogenesis and immune responses of B. abortus is mainly studied in mice and cattle. The serologic responses as well as the kinetics and distribution of bacteria were measured for 8 weeks after infection of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with B. abortus biotype 1. Methodology: Thirty-two SD...

Recently, the yak population has exhibited reproductive disorders, which are considered to be associated with Chlamydia abortus (C. abortus) in Qinghai, China. In this study, a total of 9 aborted fetuses (each from a different herd) and 126 vaginal swab samples from the 9 herds were collected and analyzed. C. abortus DNA was detected from all of the 9 aborted fetuses and 30 of the 126 vaginal s...

Development of a vaccine which is capable of generating a strong cellular immune response associated with gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production and cytotoxic T-cell development requires that the immunogen be capable of inducing the secretion of interleukin-12 (IL-12), which is a pivotal factor for the differentiation of Th1 or Tc1 cells. We have previously shown that the heat-inactivated gram...

Brucella abortus is a facultative intracellular bacterium capable of surviving inside macrophages. Intracellular replication of B. abortus requires the VirB complex, which is highly similar to conjugative DNA transfer systems. In this study, we show that plasma membrane cholesterol of macrophages is required for the VirB-dependent internalization of B. abortus and also contributes to the establ...

A rapid and simple method for the real time monitoring of Brucella abortus CSP-31 (B. abortus CSP-31) by using Surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) is first time reported. SPR and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to characterize the B. abortus CSP-31 interaction on carboxymethyldextran modified gold disc with antibody. The EIS data revealed a decrease in impedance after interac...

Korean red ginseng (KRG) has long been used in traditional Korean and Oriental medicine. However, the anti-bacterial mechanism and therapeutic efficiency of KGR for intracellular Brucella infection are still unclear. In this study, the bactericidal activity of Korean red ginseng acidic polysaccharide (RGAP) on Brucella (B.) abortus and its cytotoxic effects on RAW 264.7 cells were evaluated. In...

Smooth lipopolysaccharides (SLPS) from Brucella abortus contain A-epitopes against which the majority of serum antibodies are directed during infections. SLPS from Yersinia enterocolitica 0:9 possesses identical epitopes, which are the cause for serological cross-reactivity. All Brucella spp. possess M- and C-epitopes which are not present in Y. enterocolitica 0:9. In order to examine the usefu...

During a study on Trypanosoma equiperdum propagation in adult male Wistar rats, four rats died spontaneously. Two of the dead animals were subjected to post mortem examination. From different organs of the rats, chlamydiae were isolated and confirmed by PCR and DNA sequencing as Chlamydophila psittaci. The results show that infection with Chlamydophila psittaci may occur in laboratory rats. Suc...