Evidence for Unknown Sarcocystis -Like Infection in Stranded Striped Dolphins ( Stenella coeruleoalba ) from the Ligurian Sea, Italy

• Published in: Animals (Basel) 2021-04, Vol.11 (5), p.1201
• Main Authors: Giorda, Federica, Romani-Cremaschi, Umberto, Marsh, Antoinette E, Grattarola, Carla, Iulini, Barbara, Pautasso, Alessandra, Varello, Katia, Berio, Enrica, Gazzuola, Paola, Marsili, Letizia, Di Francesco, Cristina E, Goria, Maria, Verna, Federica, Audino, Tania, Peletto, Simone, Caramelli, Maria, Fernández-Escobar, Mercedes, Sierra, Eva, Fernández, Antonio, Calero-Bernal, Rafael, Casalone, Cristina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antisera; Aquatic mammals; Bladder; Bradyzoites; Brain; Cetacea; Cross-reaction; Cross-reactivity; Cysts; genotype; Heart; Histology; Histopathology; Homology; Infections; Inflammation; Lesions; Light microscopy; Liver; Livestock; Lymphatic system; Marine mammals; Meningoencephalitis; Microscopy; Monoclonal antibodies; Muscles; Musculoskeletal system; Myocardium; neuropathology; Nutritional status; Optical microscopy; Parasites; Polyclonal antibodies; Protozoa; Reproductive system; Sarcocystis; Sarcocystis-like; Sarcosporidiosis; Serology; Skeletal muscle; Spleen; Stenella; Stranding; striped dolphin; tissue cysts; Tissues; Toxoplasma gondii
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani11051201

Two striped dolphins (SD1, SD2), stranded along the Ligurian coast of Italy, were diagnosed with a nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis associated with previously undescribed protozoan tissue cysts. As tissue cysts were morphologically different from those of , additional histopathological, immunohistochemical, ultrastructural, and biomolecular investigations were performed, aiming to fully characterize the organism. Histopathology revealed the presence of large -like tissue cysts, associated with limited inflammatory lesions in all CNS areas studied. IHC was inconclusive, as positive staining with polyclonal antisera did not preclude cross-reaction with other Sarcocystidae coccidia. Applied to each animal, 11 different PCR protocols precluded a neural infection by , and . coinfection was confirmed only in dolphin SD2. sp. sequences, showing the highest homology to species infecting the Bovidae family, were amplified from SD1 myocardium and SD2 skeletal muscle. The present study represents the first report of -like tissue cysts in the brain of stranded cetaceans along with the first description of sp. infection in muscle tissue of dolphins from the Mediterranean basin.