Doença de Lafora em bovino

Abstract

Lafora disease is a severe, chronic, and progressive neurologic disorder of an autosomal recessive genetic basis, that results in systemic accumulation of anomalous glycogen structures as inclusions named as the disease. Here it was reported a case of Lafora’s disease in a bovine, describing the main anatomopathological findings of this condition. A 3-year-old mixed-breed cow was found dead in a dairy cattle property. Significant histological findings were confined to the brain, liver and skeletal muscle, and consisted of marked intra and extracellular accumulation of Lafora bodies, confirmed histochemically (periodic acid Schiff-diastase positive, Gomori-Grocott positive, toluidine blue negative, Congo red negative, alcian blue positive) and ultrastructurally (non-membrane bound inclusions composed of anastomosing branching filaments). The cause of death was explained by the simultaneous occurrence of encephalitis, which etiological basis is still unknown. Therefore, this is the first Brazilian report of the condition in a bovine.