Immunohistochemical detection and distribution of inducible nitric oxide synthase in pigs naturally infected with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein was detected immunohistochemically in formalin-fixed, paraffin wax-embedded lung tissues from 10 natural cases of porcine pleuropneumonia. Positive cells typically exhibited a red reaction product without background staining. Labelling of iNOS protein was intense in "oat cells", the clustered leucocytes with streaming nuclear chromatin that are a characteristic histological feature of porcine pleuropneumonia. Macrophages and neutrophils within alveolar spaces but not within blood vessels consistently showed iNOS labelling, but such labelling was minimal in non-lesional lung of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae -infected pigs and in normal lung from control pigs. The results suggest that iNOS plays a role in pathophysiological processes during A. pleuropneumoniae infection.