University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Large Veterinary Medicine -- Faculty Publications and Animal Clinical Sciences Other Works 8-24-2020 Clinical presentations and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Corynebacterium cystitidis associated with renal disease in four beef cattle Joseph Smith ISU, UTK, [email protected] Adam C. Krull ISU Jennifer A. Schleining ISU, TAMU Rachel J. Derscheid ISU Amanda J. Kreuder ISU, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_largpubs Part of the Bacteria Commons, Large or Food Animal and Equine Medicine Commons, and the Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiology Commons Recommended Citation Smith, JS, Krull, AC, Schleining, JA, Derscheid, RJ, Kreuder, AJ. Clinical presentations and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Corynebacterium cystitidis associated with renal disease in four beef cattle. J Vet Intern Med. 2020; 34: 2169– 2174. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15844 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Veterinary Medicine -- Faculty Publications and Other Works at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Large Animal Clinical Sciences by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Received: 22 April 2020 Accepted: 26 June 2020 DOI: 10.1111/jvim.15844 CASE REPORT Clinical presentations and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Corynebacterium cystitidis associated with renal disease in four beef cattle Joe S. Smith1,2 | Adam C. Krull3 | Jennifer A. Schleining1,4 | Rachel J. Derscheid3 | Amanda J. Kreuder1,5 1Food Animal and Camelid Hospital, Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Abstract Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Background: Renal disease caused by Corynebacterium cystitidis in beef cattle may be 2 Biomedical Sciences, Iowa State University, misclassified as Corynebacterium renale, and limited information about C. cystitidis Ames, Iowa 3Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Veterinary infections in beef cattle currently is available. Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, Objective: To describe clinical presentation, diagnosis, minimum inhibitory concen- Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa trations (MICs), and outcome of renal disease caused by C. cystitidis in beef cattle. 4Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas Methods: Retrospective case series. 5Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Animals: Four client-owned beef cattle. Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Results: All affected cattle had anorexia as a primary complaint. Of the 3 that had Correspondence ante-mortem diagnostic tests performed, all had pyelonephritis based on azotemia in Joe S. Smith, Iowa State University, 1809 S combination with urinalysis and ultrasonographic findings. Cultures yielded Riverside Drive, Ames, IA 50011. Email: [email protected] C. cystitidis which was identified by biochemical testing, 16S RNA sequencing, and mass spectrometry. All affected cattle deteriorated despite aggressive treatment, indicating that C. cystitidis infections in beef cattle may carry a poor prognosis. Bacte- rial isolates collected from the 4 cattle showed similarities in MICs for ampicillin, florfenicol, gentamicin, neomycin, sulfadimethoxine, trimethoprim sulfonamide, and tylosin. Conclusions and clinical importance: Corynebacterium cystitidis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cattle with renal disease. Definitive diagnosis of C. cystitidis as compared to C. renale may be challenging. KEYWORDS beef cattle, Corynebacterium cystitidis, pyelonephritis, renal, urinary 1 | INTRODUCTION Initially thought to be the same species as Corynebacterium renale,1 Abbreviations: BCS, body condition score; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; FACH, Food Animal Corynebacterium cystitidis was identified in 1978 from isolates and Camelid Hospital; ISU, Iowa State University; MALDI-TOF-MS, matrix-assisted laser described as originating from cattle with cystitis. Descriptions of desorption ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry; MIC, mean inhibitory concentration; RI, reference interval; VDL, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. C. cystitidis as well as antimicrobial susceptibility data in cattle This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. J Vet Intern Med. 2020;34:2169–2174. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jvim 2169 2170 SMITH ET AL. currently are lacking in the veterinary literature. Reports of isolates Six days later, the bull presented again to ISU FACH for evalua- from cases of pyelonephritis in cattle exist,2 and a recent survey iden- tion of reoccurrence of anorexia and lethargy. Physical examination tified C. cystitidis in a single condemned kidney from a cull dairy cow on admission identified an enlarged left kidney with loss of palpable lobula- at a slaughter facility.3 We describe 4 cases of C. cystitidis associated tion. Abdominal ultrasound examination showed multiple hyperechoic with renal disease in cattle as well as the antimicrobial susceptibilities areas in the renal cortices and pelves. A CBC disclosed leukopenia of the isolates. (3.6 × 103/μL), lymphopenia (1.48 × 103/μL; RI, 2.5-7.5 × 103/μL), and in- creased plasma protein concentration (8.8) characterized by hyperfibri- nogenemia (900 mg/dL). Serum biochemistry showed hypochloremia 2 | MATERIALS AND METHODS (78 mEq/L; RI, 100-115 mEq/L), severe azotemia (BUN, 122 mg/dL; serum creatinine concentration, 30.2 mg/dL), hyperphosphatemia A retrospective review of medical records was conducted. Medical (13.8 mg/dL; RI, 5.6-8.0 mg/dL), hypocalcemia (7.2 mg/dL; RI, records from all beef cattle from 2010 to 2020 were reviewed with 8.0-11.4 mg/dL), and increased total protein concentration (7.8 g/ age, breed, signalment, diagnosis, response to treatment, outcome, dL). Further aggressive treatment with antibiotics and fluids IV was and microbiological testing recorded. offered but declined by the owners because of poor prognosis. The bull was discharged with instructions to wait out the withdrawal period for salvage slaughter. 3 | RESULTS Four beef cattle with C. cystitidis renal disease were identified between 3.2 | Case 2 May 2015 and December 2018. A 7-year-old, unknown weight, commercial beef cow in good body condition (body condition score [BCS] 4, according to the referring 3.1 | Case 1 veterinarian) that died after a 10-day period of lethargy and anorexia had samples submitted to the ISU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory A 3-year-old, 998 kg, Lincoln Red Shorthorn bull presented in May (VDL) in February 2016 for evaluation of kidneys, liver, colon, and 2015 to the Food Animal and Camelid Hospital (FACH) at Iowa State small intestine. The submitting veterinarian described icterus and a University (ISU) for intermittent anorexia. The bull had been examined very full gallbladder. The pathologist observed thick, yellow-to-tan the day before by the ISU Field Services unit and CBC and serum bio- exudate within the renal pelvis and ureter (pyelonephritis). chemistry completed which disclosed severe azotemia (blood urea Histopathology was performed on submitted fixed samples. Mild nitrogen [BUN], 104 mg/dL; reference interval [RI], 10-25 mg/dL; to moderate autolysis affected all tissues examined. The renal pelvis serum creatinine concentration, 17.8 mg/dL; RI, 1.1-1.8 mg/dL) with contained abundant, flocculent cellular, and karyorrhectic debris, leukopenia (3.05 × 103/μL; RI, 4.0-12.0 × 103/μL), hyperfibrinogenemia degenerate neutrophils, and scant fibrin. The renal pelvic epithelium (900 mg/dL; RI, 100-500 mg/dL), and hyperproteinemia (7.9; RI, 6.7-7.5) was obliterated by inflammation with variable fibrosis and infiltrated characterized by presumptive hyperglobulinemia (albumin 3.2 g/dL; RI, by lymphocytes, plasma cells, and fewer macrophages and neutro- 2.5-3.8 g/dL). The bull was current on its vaccinations (bovine respiratory phils. Medullary and cortical tubules were multifocally ectatic and disease complex, and multivalent leptospira bacterin, as well as multivalent contained mixed cellular and karyorrhectic debris and neutrophils. clostridial bacterin-toxoid) and intestinal parasite control (previous treat- The cortical tubules frequently had markedly thickened pale eosino- ment with fenbendazole). On physical examination, the bull was mildly philic basement membranes. Tubules were variably separated by tachypneic (respiratory rate, 40 breaths per minute), and pink-colored urine fibrocollagen and low to moderate numbers of lymphocytes and was noted. Urinalysis disclosed hematuria, proteinuria, and bacteriuria, and fewer plasma cells. Mild periglomerular fibrosis also was observed. hyposthenuric urine specific gravity (1.006, RI, 1.020-1.050). Corynebacte- The liver, colon, and small intestine had moderate autolysis, but were rium cystitidis was cultured from the urine (Supplemental Material). Trans- otherwise unremarkable. A swab of the renal tissue yielded C. cystitidis abdominal ultrasound examination indicated no renal