Abstract:

There are many bacterial factors that cause respiratory diseases in dogs. Bacterial bronchopneumonia is a lung disease caused by bacteria in the lower respiratory tract and lung parenchyma. In this study, it was aimed to determine Mycoplasma spp., Streptococcus spp., Bordetella bronchiseptica, Klebsiella spp., in dogs with bronchopneumonia by Real-time PCR and to compare the histopathological findings determined according to the agents. The material of the study consisted of lung paraffin blocks of 37 dogs that died due to different reasons and were found to have bronchopneumonia in microscopic examination. Microscopically, edema in the alveolar lumens, shedding of the alveolar epithelium, shedding of the bronch and bronchial epithelium and bronchiectasis, mononuclear cell infiltration (MCI) and Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) infiltration in the bronchial lumens, peribronchiolar MCI infiltration, Bacterial clusters localized to the bronch epithelium, PMNL infiltration in the interstitium, multifocal necrosis areas, bleeding and pleuritis were observed. Real-time PCR analysis revealed Bordetella bronchiseptica in 18 (48.64%) cases, Mycoplasma spp. in 9 (24.32%) cases, Streptococcus spp. in 10 (27.02%) cases, and Klebsiella spp. in 2 (5.4%) cases. In conclusion, this study showed that the causative agent can be determined in bacterial bronchopneumonias of dogs with Real-time PCR even in tissues without culture opportunity. In addition, this study indicates that polymicrobial lower respiratory tract infections can also be seen in dogs and reveals that more than one bacterial species should be investigated for diagnosis.

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