The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Infectious Diseases
Volume 11 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1428273
Histopathological characteristics of PRRS and expression profiles of viral receptors in the piglet immune system
Provisionally accepted- Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a highly contagious viral disease that causes significant economic losses to the swine industry worldwide.PRRS virus (PRRSV) infection is a receptor-mediated endocytosis and replication process. The purpose of this study was to determine the localization and expression of four important PRRSV receptors in immunological organs of piglets. After piglets were infected with PRRSV, Hematoxylin and Eosin staining, immunofluorescence, and Western blot were used to perform histopathological examination and receptors distribution analysis. The results showed that PRRSV caused severe damage to the piglets' immune organs, including atrophy of the thymus and swelling of lymph node. Histopathological lesions were mainly observed in the lung and lymph node and were characterized by interstitial pneumonia, collapsed follicles, exhaustion of germinal centers, and extensive hemorrhage. Immunofluorescence staining and Western blot results showed that the receptors of CD163 and NMHCII-A were mainly distributed in the thymus, hilar lymph nodes, and mesenteric lymph nodes. However, Sn and vimentin receptors were expressed at low levels in the immune organs of piglets. The distribution of the four receptors in the immune organs was more concentrated in the cortex but was more scattered in the medulla. Compared to the control group, the relative expression of the four receptors increased significantly in most immune organs after viral infection. In conclusion, our study examined the distribution and expression of four PRRSV receptors in immunological organs. We observed a significant increase in the expression of Sn, CD163, and vimentin following viral infection. These findings may provide potential targets for future antiviral reagent design or vaccine development.
Keywords: PRRSV, Immune organs, viral receptors, histopathology, piglets
Received: 06 May 2024; Accepted: 07 Oct 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Sun, Chen, Chen, Zhao, Yang, Liu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jianbo Sun, Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
Na Chen, Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
Hongbo Chen, Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
Zefang Zhao, Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
Jiayao Yang, Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
Tengfei Liu, Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
Shulin Chen, Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.