Electron microscopic evaluation of bone cells in pigs with experimentally induced Bordetella rhinitis (turbinate osteoporosis).

The development of osseous lesions in the nasal turbinates of pigs with experimentally induced Bordetella rhinitis, occurring 2 to 6 weeks after inoculation with Bordetella bronchiseptica strain B, was evaluated ultrastructurally, and comparisons were made with controls. Progressive degenerative changes were seen in osteoblasts and osteocytes of diseased pigs. These changes included swollen mitochondria, distention of cisternae of endoplasmic reticulum, and lysis of some cells. Bacterial organisms, believed to be B bronchiseptica, were observed in the cytoplasm of osteoblasts and inclose proximity to bone surfaces in diseased pigs. Although osteoclasts occasionally had degenerative changes in the brush border, most osteoclasts wer similar to those of control pigs. Resorption of bone adjacent to degenerative osteoblasts and osteocytes may have contributed to the development of turbinate osteoporosis when combined with the normal cellular resorptive processes. Thes ultrastructural changes were similar to those previously reported in bone cells of the nasal turbinates of pigs with experimentally induced and naturally occurring atrophic rhinitis.