Department of Swine Diseases, National Veterinary Research Institute, 24-100 Puławy, Poland.
Department of Biochemistry, National Veterinary Research Institute, 24-100 Puławy, Poland.
Viruses. 2022 Mar 31;14(4):735. doi: 10.3390/v14040735.
Previous studies revealed that the small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) population in Poland is highly heterogeneous. All SRLVs detected from Polish sheep and goats so far have belonged to subtypes B1, B2, A1, A5, A12, A13, A16, A17, A18, A23 and A24. However, all characterized strains originated from asymptomatic animals. This is the first study that characterizes the molecular properties of SRLVs isolated from different organs of six arthritic goats. Segments from three genomic regions (, LTR and ) were analyzed. In addition, we quantified the SRLV proviral load in the blood and different organs and examined its association with different degrees of histopathological lesions. All sequences obtained from the goats involved in this study were homogeneous, showing an average degree of variability of 4.8%, 3.7% and 8.8% for , LTR and , respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the sequences from the analyzed goats were clustered within SRLVs group A and formed a new subtype within this group, tentatively named A27. The histopathological examination of the lung, mammary gland, synovial membranes of joints and brain of the analyzed goats revealed evidence of inflammatory processes associated with SRLV infection, which was confirmed by positive immunohistochemistry assays. No significant correlation was observed between histological features and alterations in the sequences from different tissues. No tissue-specific signature pattern was identified. It was shown that animals with a higher proviral load showed more lesion severity in various SRLV-affected tissues, indicating a positive association between these two parameters. Our results also revealed differences in the SRLV load between animals even though the sequences derived from all of the goats were closely related, suggesting that host factors may restrict and control viral replication. This study provides new information about SRLV variants isolated from arthritic goats; however, more studies, including the isolation and characterization of biological properties of these viruses, should be performed to evaluate their pathogenic potential.
先前的研究表明，波兰的小反刍动物慢病毒（SRLV）群体高度异质。迄今为止，从波兰绵羊和山羊中检测到的所有 SRLV 均属于 B1、B2、A1、A5、A12、A13、A16、A17、A18、A23 和 A24 亚型。然而，所有特征化的毒株均来自无症状动物。这是首次对从六只关节炎山羊的不同器官中分离的 SRLV 进行分子特性特征化的研究。分析了三个基因组区域（、LTR 和 ）的片段。此外，我们还定量了血液和不同器官中的 SRLV 前病毒载量，并检查了其与不同程度的组织病理学病变的关联。从参与本研究的山羊中获得的所有序列均是同质的，在 、LTR 和 中分别显示出 4.8%、3.7%和 8.8%的平均变异度。系统进化分析表明，分析山羊的序列聚类在 SRLV 组 A 内，并在该组内形成了一个新的亚型，暂命名为 A27。对分析山羊的肺、乳腺、关节滑膜和大脑进行的组织病理学检查显示，与 SRLV 感染相关的炎症过程的证据，这通过阳性免疫组织化学检测得到了证实。在不同组织的序列与组织学特征之间未观察到显著相关性。未确定组织特异性签名模式。结果表明，前病毒载量较高的动物在各种 SRLV 感染组织中的病变严重程度更高，表明这两个参数之间存在正相关。我们的研究结果还揭示了即使来自所有山羊的序列密切相关，动物之间的 SRLV 载量也存在差异，这表明宿主因素可能限制和控制病毒复制。本研究提供了有关从关节炎山羊中分离的 SRLV 变体的新信息；然而，应该进行更多的研究，包括这些病毒的分离和生物学特性的特征化，以评估其致病潜力。
