Enterococcal Infective Endocarditis following Periodontal Disease in Dogs

Abstract

In humans, one of the major factors associated with infective endocarditis (IE) is the concurrent presence of periodontal disease (PD). However, in veterinary medicine, the relevance of PD in the evolution of dogs’ endocarditis remains poorly understood. In order to try to establish a correlation between mouth-associated Enterococcus spp. and infective endocarditis in dogs, the present study evaluated the presence and diversity of enterococci in the gum and heart of dogs with PD. Samples were collected during necropsy of 32 dogs with PD and visually diagnosed with IE, which died of natural causes or euthanasia. Enterococci were isolated, identified and further characterized by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE); susceptibility to antimicrobial agents and pathogenicity potential was also evaluated. In seven sampled animals, PFGE-patterns, resistance and virulence profiles were found to be identical between mouth and heart enterococci obtained from the same dog, allowing the establishment of an association between enterococcal periodontal disease and endocarditis in dogs. These findings represent a crucial step towards understanding the pathogenesis of PD-driven IE, and constitute a major progress in veterinary medicine.

Periodontal Disease in Association with Systemic Diseases in the Dog

“…The findings support an association between periodontal disease and systemic diseases in the dog. The data also support current literature which links canine periodontal disease to heart disease [7,11,19,25] and hepatic pathology [19] and can be related to human associations such as:…”

“…Less literature is available on dogs, although, mitral valve disease, atherosclerosis [19], histologic changes in the myocardium [7], endocarditis [11,25], chronic kidney disease [10,24], hepatic pathology [19], diabetes [13,18,20] and meningoencephalomyelitis [27] have been reported.…”

The unravelled Enterococcus faecalis zoonotic superbugs: Emerging multiple resistant and virulent lineages isolated from poultry environment

“…The slime producing enterococci most likely evolved to general environmental resistance, on the other hand, these strains were considered pathogenic in clinical infection (Van Tyne & Gilmor, ). The E. faecalis , co‐harboured the Agg‐Asa1, Asa1‐Ace, Asa1‐Ace‐Agg, EbpABC‐pilus‐srtC‐EfaAfs, Eep‐fsrABC‐GelE‐SprE and Asa1‐Agg‐Esp, were considered as most lethal strains that may efficiently cause clinical complications leading to mortality in animals and humans (Molinos et al, ; Semedo‐Lemsaddek et al, ). However, deletion or disruption in the coding sequences of adhesins affects the cellular organization of in‐vitro biofilms and associated infections in animal models (Dunny, Hancock, & Shankar, ; Hashem, Amin, Essam, Yassin, & Aziz, ).…”

“…Enterococcus faecalis is a commensal organism found in poultry and the human gastrointestinal tract. In recent years, E. faecalis has emerged as a major zoonotic and nosocomial pathogen (~70%–80% cases) which infects animals and humans alike (Khani, Fatollahzade, Pajavand, Bakhtiari, & Abiri, ; Semedo‐Lemsaddek, Tavares, São Braz, Tavares, & Oliveira, ). Indeed, the dual nature of Enterococcus sp.…”

Identification of Helicobacter and Wolinella spp. in Oral Cavity of Toy Breed Dogs With Periodontal Disease

“…Oral cavity infections have been identified as crucial causes not only of systemic infections such as cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and respiratory diseases but also of local lesions such as gingivitis and periodontitis. [13][14][15][16] The dental plaque was identified as the main infection reservoir in the oral cavity for Wolinella succinogenes, Arcobacterbutzleri, Helicobacter spp., Campylobacter, and Arcobacter in human and domestic pets. 17 Based on the results of our study, Helicobacteraceae infections are relevant periodontal infection in pet dogs.…”