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Vet Pathol 44:695-699 (2007)
© 2007 American College of Veterinary Pathologists
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS AND CASE REPORTS

Chronic Polymyositis Associated with Disseminated Sarcocystosis in a Captive-born Rhesus Macaque

A. S. Gozalo, R. J. Montali, M. St. Claire, B. Barr, D. Rejmanek and J. M. Ward

Comparative Medicine Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, and SoBran Inc., Bethesda, MD (AG, RM, JW), BIOQUAL Inc., Rockville, MD (MS), California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, University of California, Davis, CA (BB), Department of Veterinary Medicine: Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of California, Davis, CA (DR) RM current address: Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University: Baltimore, MD.

Abstract

A 2-year-old, captive-born, clinically healthy male, rhesus macaque, was euthanatized as part of an experimental study. At necropsy, diffuse pale streaking of the trunk, lumbar, and limb muscles were noted macroscopically. On histology, numerous elongated cysts that contained crescent-shaped basophilic spores were found in the fibers of skeletal muscles. Scattered affected myofibers were degenerate and accompanied by eosinophilic-to-granulomatous inflammation. Sarcocysts had prominent villus-like projections with the morphology of a type 11 sarcocyst wall similar to Sarcocystis neurona but possessing many more villus microtubules than is reported for S. neurona. In addition, bradyzoites were very long, up to approximately 12 µm in length. The protozoa were consistent with a Sarcocystis sp., based on histology and ultrastructure, however, a definitive identification of the species was not possible. Nonspecific immunohistochemical crossreaction with Sarcocystis cruzi antisera was observed. The 18S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid sequence showed 91% similarity to Sarcocystis hominis, 90% similarity to Sarcocystis buffalonis, and 89% similarity to Sarcocystis hirsuta. Interestingly, the ITS1 sequence showed very little homology to any sequence in GenBank, suggesting that this is possibly a unique Sarcocystis sp. Sarcocystosis is often considered an incidental finding, particularly in wild-caught animals, with little clinical significance. However, as demonstrated in this report and others, disseminated sarcocystosis can occur in captive-born rhesus macaques with or without clinical signs. In some cases interference with research results can occur; including death in fulminant cases.

Key words: Immunohistochemistry; ITS1; light microscopy; macaque; myositis; Sarcocystis spp.; sequence analysis; ultrastructure.

Request reprints from Alfonso GozaloDVMMSDACLAM, Comparative Medicine Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, SoBran Inc./Government Contractor, Building 14B South, Room 228, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 (USA). E-mail: gozaloa{at}niaid.nih.gov






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