Neospora caninum infection during early pregnancy in cattle: how the isolate influences infection dynamics, clinical outcome and peripheral and local immune responses

Table 1 Experimental design

Group	Heifer ref.	Pregnancy	Inocula	Animal euthanasia
1	H2849	AI	Nc-Spain7	Yes
	H3237		10⁷ tachyzoites i.v.
	H3255
	H9500
	H9516
	H9522
2	H3236	AI	Nc-Spain8	Yes
	H3263		10⁷ tachyzoites i.v.
	H9507
	H9510
	H9517
	H9530
3 ^a	H3270	AI	MARC-145	No
3 ^a	H9501	AI	8 × 10⁵ cells i.v.	No
4 ^b	H3242	NS	MARC-145	Yes
4 ^b	H3247	NS	8 × 10⁵ cells i.v.	Yes
	H9518

^aSentinel-control group (G3): Heifers completed the pregnancy with the birth of two serologically negative calves at 269 and 274 days of pregnancy.
^bFoetal-control group (G4). Heifers were culled at 39 dpi for further comparative analyses.
AI, Artificial insemination; NS, Natural service.
i.v., Intravenous inoculation.

ISSN: 1297-9716