PNNL

Abstract

Multisystemic eosinophilic disease is a rare condition in animals characterized by eosinophilic and lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates in various organs. This disorder resembles the human disease known as hypereosinophilic syndrome, a condition defined by prolonged peripheral eosinophilia in the absence of recognizable etiology in association with end-organ damage. In this report we describe a research naïve, colony born, juvenile female Owl monkey (Aotus vociferans) who presented clinically with severe respiratory distress and histologically with multiple end-organ infiltration with phenotypically-mature eosinophils, plasma cells, and lymphocytes. No tumors or infectious agents were noted either macroscopically or microscopically. Cultures from lung samples revealed no bacteria or fungi. Histologic examination of lung, heart, thymus, liver, spleen, kidney, adrenal, pancreas, stomach, small intestine, and colon revealed no migrating nematode larvae, other parasites or foreign material that might trigger eosinophilia, nor was there any evidence of or history consistent with an allergic etiology As we have ruled out exogenous and endogenous triggers of eosinophilia, the signs, symptoms and pathologic findings support the diagnosis of multisystemic eosinophilic disease. This is to our knowledge the first report of presumptive hypereosinophilic syndrome in a nonhuman primate.