TY - JOUR

T1 - Quantification of the humoral immune response and hemoplasma blood and tissue loads in cats coinfected with 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum' and feline leukemia virus

AU - Wolf-Jäckel, Godelind A

AU - Cattori, Valentino

AU - Geret, Catrina P

AU - Novacco, Marilisa

AU - Meli, Marina L

AU - Riond, Barbara

AU - Boretti, Felicitas S

AU - Lutz, Hans

AU - Hofmann-Lehmann, Regina

N1 - Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PY - 2012/8

Y1 - 2012/8

N2 - 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum' (CMhm) is a hemotropic mycoplasma (aka hemoplasma) of domestic cats and wild felids. In a transmission study, we exposed eight specified pathogen-free cats to blood from Iberian lynxes (Lynx pardinus) infected with CMhm. The cats were coinfected with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) from an Iberian lynx or with a prototype FeLV. The goal of the present study was to quantify the humoral immune response to CMhm and to identify potential target tissues and sequestration sites. Antibodies were measured by a recombinant antigen-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and blood and tissue loads were quantified using real-time PCR. Seven out of eight cats became CMhm-infected; all of these cats seroconverted between 3 and 13 weeks after inoculation. Antibody levels correlated with the CMhm blood loads. The peak CMhm blood loads were inversely correlated with the incubation period. PCR-positive results were found in all 24 tissues tested but not for all samples. Although all tissues were PCR-positive in one cat euthanized ten weeks after infection, many tissues tested negative in six cats euthanized at week 20 after infection. In several cats, the spleen, lung, liver, heart and aorta contained more copies than expected given the tissue's blood supply, but most tissues contained fewer copies than expected. In conclusion, this is the first study to quantify the humoral immune response and tissue loads in CMhm-FeLV-coinfected cats. The tissue loads appeared to correlate with the duration of infection and with the blood loads, but no evidence of significant CMhm tissue sequestration was found.

AB - 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum' (CMhm) is a hemotropic mycoplasma (aka hemoplasma) of domestic cats and wild felids. In a transmission study, we exposed eight specified pathogen-free cats to blood from Iberian lynxes (Lynx pardinus) infected with CMhm. The cats were coinfected with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) from an Iberian lynx or with a prototype FeLV. The goal of the present study was to quantify the humoral immune response to CMhm and to identify potential target tissues and sequestration sites. Antibodies were measured by a recombinant antigen-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and blood and tissue loads were quantified using real-time PCR. Seven out of eight cats became CMhm-infected; all of these cats seroconverted between 3 and 13 weeks after inoculation. Antibody levels correlated with the CMhm blood loads. The peak CMhm blood loads were inversely correlated with the incubation period. PCR-positive results were found in all 24 tissues tested but not for all samples. Although all tissues were PCR-positive in one cat euthanized ten weeks after infection, many tissues tested negative in six cats euthanized at week 20 after infection. In several cats, the spleen, lung, liver, heart and aorta contained more copies than expected given the tissue's blood supply, but most tissues contained fewer copies than expected. In conclusion, this is the first study to quantify the humoral immune response and tissue loads in CMhm-FeLV-coinfected cats. The tissue loads appeared to correlate with the duration of infection and with the blood loads, but no evidence of significant CMhm tissue sequestration was found.

KW - Animals

KW - Antibodies, Bacterial/blood

KW - Antibodies, Viral/blood

KW - Cat Diseases/immunology

KW - Cats

KW - Coinfection/immunology

KW - Immunity, Humoral

KW - Leukemia Virus, Feline/genetics

KW - Male

KW - Mycoplasma/genetics

KW - Mycoplasma Infections/immunology

KW - Retroviridae Infections/immunology

KW - Viral Load

U2 - 10.1016/j.micpath.2012.05.003

DO - 10.1016/j.micpath.2012.05.003

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 22588083

VL - 53

SP - 74

EP - 80

JO - Microbial Pathogenesis

JF - Microbial Pathogenesis

SN - 0882-4010

IS - 2

ER -