Acute hepatitis in a piglet experimentally inoculated with tissue homogenates from pigs with postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome

Five 2 day-old colostrum-deprived piglets were inoculated with tissue homogenates from pigs with postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome. One of the five piglets developed icterus and died 23 days post-inoculation. Histologic examination revealed acute hepatitis. Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) antigen and nucleic acid were detected in hepatocytes and phagocytic cells. Ultrastructurally, hepatocytes and phagocytic cells had large numbers of cytoplasmic inclusions, which were composed of electron-dense paracrystalline arrays of small non-enveloped viral particles approximately 17 nm in diameter. Apoptotic hepatocytes were confirmed by the TUNEL method and electron microscopic examination. These findings may indicate that hepatocellular necrosis is associated with replication of PCV-2. Apoptosis of hepatocytes also contributes to the pathogenesis of hepatic lesions in this case.