Revisão acerca da aplicação da técnica “Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus Polymerase Chain Reaction” (ERIC-PCR) em genotipagem de cepas bacterianas isoladas de mastite bovina, como contribuição ao desenvolvimento de estratégias efetivas de profilaxia

Abstract

Bovine mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland, caused mainly by bacteria, which affects dairy cows, causing damage to the mammary tissue, the producer, and the bovine milk and even causing public health problems. Bovine mastitis has been identified as one of the main causes of low bovine milk production in dairy cattle, leading to increased veterinary expenses, early disposal of milk, and disposal of the animal, depending on the level of infection; resulting in a high rate of economic losses in the dairy industry. It can be classified according to its forms of presentation in the animal, clinical or subclinical, and environmental. In the clinical form, physical symptoms are notable, whether in the animal's fourth mammary gland or the milk; The subclinical form, on the other hand, presents itself with the absence of visual changes in the mammary gland, which can aggravate the animal's condition easier, since it presents itself in this silent form, to identify subclinical mastitis, it ends up being necessary to collect samples for culturing microorganisms or counting somatic cells (SCC), which are the body's defense cells, which show changes when there is something in disorder. Environmental mastitis, on the other hand, is caused by opportunistic microorganisms that are present in the milking and corral environment, in contaminated water, on the floor, in feces, and organic materials used as bedding for animals. Contamination occurs during milking, through the hands of operators, and even through the use of infected materials without proper sterilization. The main isolated agents of subclinical and environmental mastitis are Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Enterococcus faecalis, and Escherichia coli. The objective of this review work was to describe and present the importance of using the “Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus - Polymerase Chain Reaction” (ERIC-PCR) technique, as a viable, fast, and accurate alternative for use in the diagnosis of bovine mastitis, based on scientific evidence. A thorough analysis of articles found in databases widely recognized by the scientific community was conducted, presenting effective results from using the technique to rapidly characterize bacterial strains in other works. Thus, supporting and encouraging new studies and publications on the application of this technique in the context of bovine mastitis, considering that it is a technique widely used for bacterial identification in other cases. The method applied in work was a narrative bibliographic review, also presenting some elements of an integrative systematic review, as it was aided by scientometric tools, which included the search for articles in scientific databases, such as PubMed and Web Of Science, about the technique, its benefits, and uses, especially in the investigation of bacterial strains, in addition to contributions to the development of new techniques for diagnosing and controlling the disease, or, using the ERIC-PCR technique for bacterial identification in bovine mastitis. Although additional research in the field and the development of new work on the topic addressed are necessary, aiming to confirm the results found, it is hoped that this work can make clearer the importance of using the ERIC-PCR technique in the diagnosis of bovine mastitis, due to the agility, safety, and precision of the results - supporting and encouraging new studies and publications on the application of this technique in the context of this and other diseases, bearing in mind that a rapid diagnosis favors a cure. The ERIC-PCR technique had its first reports published in 1992, having been covered in thousands of publications. This proves to be a precise, viable, and low-cost technique for its implementation, demonstrating results in the genomic differentiation of isolates in clinical and veterinary research and the quality control of products of animal origin. In this review, it was possible to conclude that more specific research is still needed regarding the applicability of the technique in question in the diagnosis of bovine mastitis, given the numerous published works, which demonstrate its effectiveness in several other areas.