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Diagnosis: Protothecosis

Lab Animal volume 33, pages 26–29 (2004)Cite this article

The lesions are caused by Prototheca, a ubiquitous saprophytic achlorophyllic alga that lives on decaying organic matter and rarely causes disease in humans and animals1. There are three recognized species: P. stagnora, P. zopfii, and P. wickerhamii1. About 100 human cases have been described of Prototheca infection, usually involving the skin and underlying tissue or olecranon bursa2. Systemic protothecosis with algaemia is rare and only reported in immunosuppressed humans3. P. wickerhamii is recovered most often from human infections, and from cutaneous infections in cats, and occasionally in dogs4,5,6. P. zopfii is usually associated with animal infections. About 50 cases of chronic colitis with systemic protothecosis are described in dogs7,8,9, and it causes mastitis in high-producing, machine-milked dairy cows10. Protothecosis has also been reported in deer, a beaver, and a fruit bat1. In this dog, immunofluorescence examination of an unstained smear was positive for P. zopfii.

Prototheca has been isolated from water, sewage, soil, woody, and herbaceous plants11. Prototheca can be isolated from freshly voided human and animal feces, and is considered a transient contaminant2,3,9. Farm animals, domestic pigs, and barnyard rats excrete P. zopfii in their feces and when maintained on Prototheca-free diets, the transient intestinal population of P. zopfii decreases abruptly and disappears11. Pore and Shahan11 reasoned that contaminated animal feed is the source of large numbers of P. zopfii in the farm environment and rats are logical vectors for contamination of animal feed. They concluded that this is the most likely transmissional cause of P. zopfii-induced bovine mastitis and canine colitis with disseminated protothecosis. Traumatic inoculation of humans, cats, and dogs with P. wickerhamii-contaminated material is believed to be the cause of primary cutaneous infections. Disseminated protothecosis in humans and dogs is rare, and evidence suggests that it results when the host's immune resistance is suppressed2,3,9,12. Lack of cell-mediated immunity appears to be more important than decreased humoral response in allowing entrance of Prototheca into tissues and establishment of infection2,3,9,12. This is supported by the work of Rakich and Latimer13 who evaluated the immune function in one dog with disseminated protothecosis and found depressed T-lymphocyte function and neutrophil inhibition.

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Figure 3: Microscopic section of myocardial lesion in Fig. 2.
Figure 4: Detail of the central cluster of Prototheca organisms in Fig. 3.
Figure 5: Low-power microscopic view of a mesenteric lymph node from a male mixed breed dog with disseminated protothecosis.

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Diagnosis: Protothecosis. Lab Anim 33, 26–29 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban1004-26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban1004-26

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