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Porcine Circovirus Type 2-Associated Cerebellar Vasculitis in Postweaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS)-Affected Pigs

Institute for Preclinical Drug Safety, ALTANA Pharma AG, Barsbuettel, Germany (FS), Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany (MB, LK, WB), Department of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany (IG-W), Department of Microbiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany (JV), Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinária, Universitat Autónomia de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain (JS)

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is associated with several syndromes in growing pigs, including postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome and porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome. In the present study, a previously undescribed neurovascular disorder associated with a PCV2 infection is described. Sixteen pigs showed clinical signs of wasting and neurologic deficits. Acute hemorrhages and edema of cerebellar meninges and parenchyma due to a necrotizing vasculitis resulted in degeneration and necrosis of the gray and white matter. Few to numerous PCV2 DNA and antigen-bearing endothelial cells were detected in affected areas of the brain using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Conventional histochemical stains, as well as the detection of caspase 3 activity and DNA strand breaks by the terminal transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay, showed numerous apoptotic endothelial cells in the vascular lesions observed. Sequencing of various brain-derived PCV2-specific amplicons revealed a strong identity between different isolates and an 89 to 100% identity to previous isolates. The phylogenetic tree showed that there was no clustering of isolates correlating to clinical signs or geographic distribution. This previously undescribed PCV2-associated neurologic disease has features of both postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome and, to a lesser extent, porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome. The available evidence suggests that direct virus-induced apoptosis of endothelial cells plays a role in the pathogenesis of this unusual PCV2-associated cerebellar vasculitis.

Key words: Apoptosis; cerebellum; circovirus; PCV2; porcine; vasculitis.