Detection of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Brains of Cattle with a Neurological Syndrome: Pathological and Molecular Studies

Abstract EN

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) was investigated in the central nervous system (CNS) of cattle with neurological syndrome.

A total of 269 CNS samples were submitted to nested-PCR (BLV env gene gp51), and the viral genotypes were identified.

The nested-PCR was positive in 4.8% (13/269) CNS samples, with 2.7% (2/74) presenting at histological examination lesions of nonpurulent meningoencephalitis (NPME), whereas 5.6% (11/195) not presenting NPME (P>0.05).

No samples presented lymphosarcoma.

The PCR products (437 bp) were sequenced and submitted to phylogenetic analysis by neighbor-joining and maximum composite likelihood methods, and genotypes 1, 5, and 6 were detected, corroborating other South American studies.

The genotype 6 barely described in Brazil and Argentina was more frequently detected in this study.

The identity matrices showed maximum similarity (100%) among some samples of this study and one from Argentina (FJ808582), recovered from GenBank.

There was no association among the genotypes and NPME lesions.