1Animal Disease Research Centre, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India.
2Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India.
Animal Disease Research Centre, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India
*Corresponding author's e-mail: drgeetapatho@gmail.com
Online published on 28 January, 2020.
Fibrosis is a common finding in chronic mastitis. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a prominent role in fibrogenesis in adult tissues. Theaim of thisstudy wasto investigate whether EMT occursin bovinemastitis byassessing the expression or localization of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), S-100 protein and caspase-3. Two normal bovine mammary gland tissue samples and five mastitic samples were used in the study. Antibodies toalpha-SMA, S-100 and caspase-3 were used for immunohistochemical studies. In mastitis there was increased expression of S-100 in the alveolar epithelial cells. Alpha-SMA was highly expressed in the areas where there is fibrosis in chronic mastitis. Further caspase-3 was observed in alveolar cells in mastitic tissue. Overexpression of S-100 and alpha-SMA directly correlates to the severity of mastitis. S-100 and alpha-SMA may serve as biomarkers to know the extent of tissue structural changes in mastitis. EMT could be one of the mechanistic pathways underlying the pathogenesis of fibrosis in mastitis.
Alpha-smooth muscle actin, Bovine mastitis, Caspase, Epithelial to mesenchymal transition, S-100
