Leptospirosis is a worldwide disease caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus Leptospira sp.. It affects several domestic animals, wild and human beings. In livestock it causes reproductive disorders, such as the repetition of estrus, abortion and infertility, leading to important economic losses (Ellis, 2015). The study based on uterine samples is recent, and particularly focused on slaughterhouses sampling due to technical difficulties to obtain uterine samples from live animals (Di Azevedo and Lilenbaum, 2021).
Sheep have been used as a good experimental model for studies of leptospirosis in ruminants (Rocha et al., 2020), particularly in studies focused in reproductive aspects of the disease, known as Bovine Genital Leptospirosis – BGL (Loureiro and Lilenbaum, 2020). Currently, the only method suggested for sampling uterine fragments from live animals for bacteriology or PCR is laparotomy.
Laparotomy requires depravation of food from 24-36h and of water for at least 12h. It also requires sedation followed by general anesthesia. After, the reproductive tract (uterus, uterine coupons and ovaries) is exposed through longitudinal ventral laparotomy with animals in recumbent dorsal position and a small portion of the uterine body is /removed by a scalpel blade. After the process, anti-inflammatories and antibiotic therapy are required for at least three days. It is a costly technique due to the expensive equipment, trained personnel and general anesthesia required. Furthermore, the manipulation of the abdominal cavity may promote adhesions, what may reduce the animal's reproductive life (Fonseca et al., 2011). Our group has previously used laparotomy to sample uterine fragments (Rocha et al., 2018), and, at that occasion, it was visible that the recovery of the animals was difficult and time consuming.
Considering those limitations and trying to follow one of the most important precepts of bioethics, the refinement, we have recently chosen to use a less invasive technique, combining videolaparoscopy with a Tru-Cut® biopsy device. The goals were to reduce cost, the time of surgery and recovery of animals, avoid health risks due to anesthesia, as well as adhesions or injuries to the genital tract. Besides, we also planned to avoid the unnecessary use of antibiotics as well as reduce the use of anti-inflammatories. In this sense, the new procedure herein described is faster, and, most important, less painful to the animal.