Immunohistochemical Assessment of Immune Response in the Dermis of Sarcoptes scabiei—Infested Wild Carnivores (Wolf and Fox) and Ruminants (Chamois and Red Deer)

• Published in: Animals
• Main Authors: Martínez, Ileana Zorhaya, Oleaga, Álvaro, Sojo, Irene, García Iglesias, María José, Pérez Martínez, Claudia, García Marín, Juan Francisco, Balseiro Morales, Ana María
• Other Authors: Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2020
• Subjects: Sanidad animal; Sarcoptes scabiei; Dermis cellular response; Wolf; Red fox; Chamois; Red deer; Immunohistochemistry; 3109 Ciencias Veterinarias; Canis lupus; Mite
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10612/19086; https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/7/1146; https://doi.org/10.3390/ANI10071146

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) [EN] Sarcoptic mange is caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei and has been described in several species of domestic and wild mammals. Macroscopic lesions are predominantly hyperkeratotic (type I hypersensitivity) in fox, chamois and deer, but alopecic (type IV hypersensitivity) in wolf and some fox populations. To begin to understand the immune processes underlying these species differences in lesions, we examined skin biopsies from wolves (Canis lupus), foxes (Vulpes vulpes), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) naturally infested with S. scabiei. Twenty skin samples from five animals per species were used. Sections were immuno-stained with primary antibodies against Iba1 to detect macrophages, lambda chain to detect plasma cells, CD3 to detect T lymphocytes and CD20 to detect B lymphocytes. Skin lesions contained significantly more inflammatory cells in the fox than in the wolf and chamois. Macrophages were the most abundant inflammatory cells in the lesions of all the species studied, suggesting a predominantly innate, non-specific immune response. Lesions from the wolf contained higher proportions of macrophages than the other species, which may reflect a more effective response, leading to alopecic lesions. In red deer, macrophages were significantly more abundant than plasma cells, T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, which were similarly abundant. The fox proportion of plasma cells was significantly higher than those of T and B lymphocytes. In chamois, T lymphocytes were more abundant than B lymphocytes and plasma cells, although the differences were significant only in the case of macrophages. These results suggest that all the species examined mount a predominantly innate immune response against S. scabiei infestation, while fox and chamois may also ...