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Vet Pathol 42:19-29 (2005)
© 2005 American College of Veterinary Pathologists

Trichomonad Gastritis in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) Infected with Simian Immunodeficiency Virus

I. Kondova, M. A. Simon, S. A. Klumpp, J. MacKey, G. Widmer, H. G. Domingues, S. P. Persengiev and S. P. O'Neil

Department of Comparative Pathology, New England Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School, Southborough, MA (IK, MAS, SAK, JM, HGD, SPO); Division of Infectious Diseases, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA (GW); and Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Programs in Molecular Medicine and Gene Function and Expression, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA (SPP)

In a retrospective study, 51 cases of gastritis (14%) were identified from among 341 necropsies performed on simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)–infected rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) at the New England Primate Research Center from 1993 to 2001. Protozoa were seen in the stomach of 13 monkeys (25%) with gastritis. Two histopathologic manifestations of gastritis were observed: seven cases of lymphoplasmacytic gastritis with trichomonad trophozoites within lumens of gastric glands and four cases of necrosuppurative gastritis containing intralesional periodic acid–Schiff-positive protozoa; two cases of gastritis had morphologic features of both types of gastritis. In instances of necrosuppurative and combined lymphoplasmacytic and necrosuppurative gastritis, protozoa were 4–35 µm in diameter and round to tear-shaped. Because of the unusual morphology of the protozoa in these latter cases, transmission electron microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to further identify these organisms. The protozoa were definitively identified as Tritrichomonas in all cases on the basis of ultrastructural characteristics (flagella and undulating membranes) and amplification of a 347-bp product of the 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene of Tritrichomonas foetus, Tritrichomonas suis and Tritrichomonas mobilensis by PCR using DNA extracted from stomach tissue. On the basis of these observations, we conclude that Tritrichomonas can be a significant cofactor in the development of necrosuppurative gastritis in SIV-infected rhesus macaques.

Key words: Electron microscopy; gastritis; immunodeficiency; in situ hybridization; Macaca mulatta; polymerase chain reaction; simian immunodeficiency virus; trichomonads (Tritrichomonas).

Request reprints from Dr. S. O'Neil, Division of Comparative Pathology, New England Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School, One Pine Hill Drive, PO Box 9102, Southborough, MA 01772-9102 (USA). E-mail: shawn_oneil{at}hms.harvard.edu






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