Species-barrier on the cross-species oral transmission of bovine AA amyloidosis in mice

In AA amyloidosis, cross-species oral transmission has been demonstrated in several animal models. While it is known that the transmission efficiency of AA amyloidosis between different species is lower than that among the same species, the mechanism of this species-barrier is unclear. In this study, we found at first that mice orally given a large amount of bovine AA simultaneously with inflammatory stimulation did not develop AA amyloidosis. Therefore, we hypothesized that the low efficiency of the cross-species oral transmission of AA amyloidosis might be due to the low absorption rate in Peyer’s patches. To evaluate the hypothesis, we next investigated whether bovine AA was taken up by Peyer’s patches and translocated to other organs in vivo and ex vivo models. The direct absorption of bovine AA by Peyer’s patches was not observed. Besides, translocation of bovine AA to the mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen, liver, or kidney was not observed except the mesenteric lymph node of a single mouse. Thus, absorption of bovine AA by Peyer’s patches occurred much less efficiently in mouse models of cross-species oral transmission of AA amyloidosis. The present study suggests that the less efficient amyloid uptake by Peyer’s patches may be involved in the species-barrier of oral transmission of AA amyloidosis.