Tears and aqueous humor from horses inoculated with Leptospira contain antibodies which bind to cornea.

The research shows that antibodies which attach themselves to the cornea are present in tears and aqueous humor from horses injected with Leptospira. After a booster shot, these antibodies are detected in various fluids and cause the horses’ corneas to become diffusely opaque.

Experiment Setup and Methodology

• The research builds upon a previously described antigenic relationship between Leptospira interrogans, a bacterial pathogen that can cause serious illness in animals and humans, and the cornea of a horse.
• An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, a popular laboratory technique used for measuring the concentration of antibodies in fluids, was used for this research.
• The study involved inoculating horses with antigens of Leptospira and the cornea-specific antibodies.

Observations and Findings

• Detection of antibodies that bond to plates was observed 10 days after a booster shot by the same route. These plates were coated with a homogenate (mixture) of either horse cornea or leptospira.
• The measured fluids included the horses’ tears, aqueous humor – the clear fluid in the front of the eyeball between the lens and the cornea – and sera, the clear liquid that can be separated from clotted blood.
• Concurrently with the detection of these binding antibodies, the corneas of the horses were noted to develop a diffuse opacity, which can impact the transparency of the cornea and potentially affect vision.

Implications and Conclusions

• The research points to the path along which the anti-leptospira antibodies travel to reach and bond with the cornea. This pathway involves the tears and the aqueous humor of the horses.
• This discovery can give a better understanding of how Leptospira bacteria cause eye infections and conditions, such as corneal opacity in horses, potentially aiding in the development of improved treatment methods.
• Additional research may be productive in exploring how to use these pathways for therapeutic methods and prevention strategies of ocular disease related to Leptospira.