Bovine cryptococcal meningoencephalitis

Abstract

Cryptococcal meningitis and encephalitis is reported in a 5-year-old bull. The clinical signs included multifocal neurological deficits manifested by hypermetria, ataxia, depression, circling, impaired vision, head pressing, low head carriage, wide-based stance, and falling to the side or backwards. At necropsy, 6 cavities with a gelatinous content were observed in the brain and brain stem, and the meninges were thickened and off white. Numerous yeasts, with a nonstaining capsule, and associated mild inflammatory reaction were observed histologically. Specimens for culture were not collected at necropsy, but the identity of the yeast in tissue sections as Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii was supported by immunohistochemistry.

Cryptococcus gattii-Induced Infections in Dogs from Southern Brazil

“…The gross and histopathological findings observed in these dogs are consistent with previous descriptions of cryptococcosis in domestic animals [1,2,19,24]. The fungal budding as observed during this investigation is a typical diagnostic feature of the Cryptococcus complex of organisms [1,4,12,33], while the polysaccharide capsule as easily identified by the mucicarmine stain presents another important morphological characteristic of this pathogen [1,11,33].…”

“…The neurological histopathological patterns of canine cryptococcosis have been denominated as: (a) intraparenchymal cryptococcal pseudocysts, (b) meningitis without pseudocysts or parenchymal involvement, and (c) meningoencephalitis without pseudocysts [14]; the neurological presentation observed during this study is consistent with intraparenchymal cryptococcal pseudocysts. It was impressive to note that there was no marked inflammatory response within the CNS due to these intraparenchymal cryptococcal pseudocysts; an absence of an intense inflammatory response was also reported in a cow with CNS pseudocysts [24]. Similar findings were demonstrated in an experiment that compared the cytokine profiles and histopathological differences between the C. gattii 265 strain with the C. neoformans H99 strain in mice [40].…”

“…grubii have been observed in cases of cerebral cryptococcosis in cows [19,24], the pulmonary disease in a sheep [25] from different geographical regions of Brazil, and in a cat from Bologna with cerebral cryptococcomas [35], while C. gattii-associated cryptococcomas have been described in dogs from California [14] and Oregon [34]. The pseudocysts observed within the cerebrum of the German shepherd dog represents an another important neurological finding associated with CNS cryptococcosis; similar lesions have been described in dogs [14] and a cow [24]. Pseudocysts seems to occur due to the spreading of CNS cryptococcosis along the distended Virchow-Robin spaces associated with the accumulation of gelatinous material derived from the polysaccharide cryptococcal capsule [37].…”

“…Nevertheless, the disease has been reported in the dog [18,20,21], cat [18,22], horse [23], cow [19,24], sheep [25,26], and goat [27]. However, most of these cases [20-23, 26, 28] were characterized due to the typical histopathological features of the fungus, while mycological culture [18,25], immunohistochemistry [19,24], and PCR identification [27] were used to confirm the histopathological findings of cryptococcosis.…”

Características histomorfológicas e histoquímicas determinantes no diagnóstico da criptococose em animais de companhia

“…No Brasil há relatos de C. neoformans e C. gattii isolados em áreas urbanas e de mata, assim como casos clínicos em humanos (Côrrea et al 1999, Montenegro & Paula 2000, Fortes et al 2001) e animais (Kommers et al 2005, Martins et al 2008, Riet-Correa et al 2011. A infecção ocorre principalmente pelo trato respiratório, através da inalação de leveduras ou basidiósporos e as lesões ocorrem principalmente na cavidade nasal e nos pulmões (Castellá et al 2008).…”