RESUMO
C3 was detected bound in vivo to the opaque cornea of horses inoculated with killed Leptospira interrogans. Employing epithelial corneal cells isolated from a monolayer in tissue culture, we proved that C3 is fixed in vitro to the intact cell surface after incubation with a fresh equine anti-Leptospira serum. These findings, in addition to the infiltration of cornea with neutrophils and lymphocytes, may explain the mechanisms of tissue damage in recurrent uveitis of horses with leptospirosis.
Assuntos
Complemento C3/imunologia , Córnea/imunologia , Infecções Oculares Bacterianas/veterinária , Doenças dos Cavalos/imunologia , Leptospira interrogans/imunologia , Leptospirose/veterinária , Animais , Células Cultivadas , Testes de Fixação de Complemento/veterinária , Córnea/microbiologia , Opacidade da Córnea/veterinária , Epitélio/imunologia , Epitélio/microbiologia , Infecções Oculares Bacterianas/imunologia , Infecções Oculares Bacterianas/microbiologia , Imunofluorescência/veterinária , Doenças dos Cavalos/microbiologia , Cavalos , Leptospirose/imunologia , Masculino , Uveíte/veterináriaRESUMO
The antigenic relationship between Leptospira interrogans, equine cornea and lens was previously noted in our studies. Serum antibodies from horses inoculated with serovars wolffi, pomona, icterohaemorrhagiae, and tarassovi, were able to bind to five antigenic fractions from both cornea and lens, as demonstrated by immunoblotting. These antigens seem to be made up of protein and carbohydrates. After treatment with periodate for cleavage of glycoside ring structures, those fractions kept their condition of target for anti-Leptospira antibodies. Nevertheless, all fractions lost that condition after being subjected to peptide hydrolysis.