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Vet Pathol 42:797-804 (2005)
© 2005 American College of Veterinary Pathologists

Histologic Features Associated with Tritrichomonas foetus-induced Colitis in Domestic Cats

M. J. Yaeger and J. L. Gookin

Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences (JLG), College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC; and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (MJY), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Tritrichomonas foetus is a venereal pathogen of naturally bred cattle. In domestic cats, T. foetus colonizes the colon, resulting in chronic, large-bowel diarrhea. The infection is prevalent among young, densely housed cats, and there is no effective treatment. To the authors' knowledge, the characteristic microscopic lesions of T. foetus infection in naturally infected cats have not been described. The aim of the study reported here was to characterize the histologic changes in the colon of seven cats with T. foetus infection and chronic diarrhea. All cats were 1 year old or younger (mean, 6.7 ± 1.7 months), and a diagnosis of T. foetus infection was made on the basis of direct fecal smear examination (five cats), fecal culture in InPouchTM TF medium (four cats), single-tube nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of DNA extracted from feces (two cats), or observation of trichomonads in sections of colon followed by PCR confirmation on DNA extracted from paraffin-embedded tissue (two cats). The presence of colonic trichomonads was the most diagnostic histologic feature. Organisms were identified in all cats, but in only 24 of 43 (56%) sections of colon. Trichomonads were generally present in close proximity to the mucosal surface and less frequently in the lumen of colonic crypts. The presence of colonic trichomonads was consistently associated with mild-to-moderate lymphoplasmacytic and neutrophilic colitis, crypt epithelial cell hypertrophy, hyperplasia and increased mitotic activity, loss of goblet cells, crypt microabscesses, and attenuation of the superficial colonic mucosa. In two of the cats, histologic lesions were more severe and were associated with invasion of trichomonads into the lamina propria and/or deeper layers of the colon.

Key words: Colon; feline; histology; trichomonas.

Request reprints from Jody L. Gookin, DVM, PhD, North Carolina State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, 4700 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27606 (USA). E-mail: Jody_Gookin{at}ncsu.edu .






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