Comparison between two in situ methods for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis detection in tissue samples from infected cattle.

Paratuberculosis or Johne's disease is a chronic infectious disorder caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map). The disease produces diarrhea and weight loss in cattle and other animal species, and it is characterized by granulomatous enteritis and lymphadenitis. Histopathology and in situ techniques can be used as a diagnostic test, but the performance of these methods was not previously compared. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the ability of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization to detect Map in formalin-fixed tissue samples from infected cattle. Samples (ileum or ileocecal lymph node) from four animals that had positive Map culturing, lesions and detectable acid fast bacilli, as well as from two control animals, were tested by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Immunostaining and positive hybridization were observed in areas with lesions from infected animal samples, inside the cytoplasm of macrophages, epithelioid and giant cells. Immunostaining was intense in three samples and weak in one, while hybridization was weak in all cases. In situ hybridization was positive in negative areas of tissues analyzed by immunohistochemistry, which could be related to spheroplast detection as it was previously described for this method. Control samples resulted negative by these two methods. Both techniques were able to detect Map in formalin fixed and paraffin embedded tissues, however immunohistochemistry produced higher intensity staining and was easier to perform. Therefore, we believe that immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization to be useful for the post-mortem diagnosis and research of Paratuberculosis.