Serum lipidomics of bovine paratuberculosis: Disruption of choline-containing glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids.

Objectives: Bovine paratuberculosis is a devastating infection with subspecies that ultimately results in death from malnutrition. While the infection is characterized by a long (2-4 years) subclinical phase with immune activation, ultimately host defense mechanisms fail and the bacteria spread from the small intestine to other organs. Since both the gastrointestinal tract and liver are essential for the biosynthesis of structural glycerophospholipids, we investigated the circulating levels of these lipids in field infections and experimentally infected cattle.

Lipidomic analysis of immune activation in equine leptospirosis and Leptospira-vaccinated horses.

Currently available diagnostic assays for leptospirosis cannot differentiate vaccine from infection serum antibody. Several leptospiral proteins that are upregulated during infection have been described, but their utility as a diagnostic marker is still unclear. In this study, we undertook a lipidomics approach to determine if there are any differences in the serum lipid profiles of horses naturally infected with pathogenic Leptospira spp.