Uninfected Cats Research Articles

Serum-mediated adherence of feline granulocytes to microfilariae of Brugia pahangi in vitro: variations with parasite maturation.

Feline eosinophils and neutrophils readily adhered in vitro to the sheaths of microfilariae of Brugia pahangi in the presence of suitable serum. Both cell types flattened along the surface of the parasite undergoing cytoplasmic changes which included degranulation. Adherence was dependent on properties of both the serum and the history of the microfilaria used. Two types of serum factor were found to mediate adherence. Heat labile factors were present in sera from infected and uninfected cats as well as in sera from other species. They were removed by preincubation of sera with zymosan suggesting that complement components were involved. This suggestion was supported by the demonstration of C3 on the surface of microfilariae participating in adherence reactions. A heat stable factor, present in the serum of less than 10% of infected cats, also mediated adherence. This factor was demonstrated to be IgG by immunoadsorption and immunofluorescence. The ability of the microfilariae to participate in the adherence reaction mediated by complement factor varied with maturation of the parasite. Microfilariae obtained directly from the uteri of adult worms, or produced in vitro, did not possess the ability to participate in adherence. Young blood microfilariae (i.e. taken from the blood of cats recently patent) were similar to the in vitro produced parasites; however, the majority of blood microfilariae from infections of greater than three weeks patency participated in this form of adherence. No difference between blood and uterine/in vitro microfilariae was seen in adherence reactions mediated by heat stable antibody.

Lymphocyte Mitogen Reactivity and Enumeration of Circulating B- and T-Cells During Feline Leukemia Virus Infection in the Cat23

Mitogen-induced blast transformation of peripheral blood lymphocytes and quantitative changes in circulating T- and B-cells were studied serially in cats inoculated with feline leukemia virus (FeLV). Concanavalin A-induced blast transformation sharply declined beginning at 5 weeks post inoculation (Pl) in FeLV-infected cats when compared to age-matched uninfected control cats. Similar but less consistent changes were seen in responses to pokeweed mitogen-induced stimulation. In most infected kittens this defect persisted until they died from thymic lymphosarcoma, 15-24 weeks Pl. An early lymphopenia, due primarily to a decrease in circulating B-cells, occurred in infected cats 5-8 weeks Pl. Following a return of total and B-lymphocytes to control values, infected cats developed increased numbers of T-cells at 16 or more weeks Pl, which correlated with circulating lymphoblastic lymphocytes bearing T-cell markers. These results correlated neoplasia arising in a thymus-derived lymphocyte population with mitogenic hyporeactivity in the preneoplastic period and suggested that FeLV-induced immune alterations may be a necessary antecedent of leukemogenesis in the cat.

Feline Oncornavirus-Associated Cell Membrane Antigen. VI. Cytotoxic Antibody in Cats Exposed to Feline Leukemia Virus2

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV)-infected specific pathogen-free (SPF) cats, normal uninfected SPF cats, and healthy cats from leukemic households were tested for antibody reactive to the feline oncornavirus-associated cell membrane antigen (FOCMA)-containing target cell line FL-74 by microcytotoxicity and indirect membrane immunofluorescence. Of the infected SPF animals, 81% showed concordant reactivity for the two tests. In contrast, only 55% of the healthy cats known to be naturally exposed to FeLV for long periods showed such concordance. FOCMA antibody could not be detected in normal SPF cats by either indirect membrane immunofluorescence or microcytotoxicity. Most cats in the FeLV-infected SPF group developed antibody detectable by both procedures by the fifth week post inoculation. Antibody detectable by membrane immunofluorescence persisted in a high percentage (75-90%) of the animals throughout the observation period of 19 weeks; after 9 weeks, fewer cats had antibody that was also detectable by microcytotoxicity.

The effect of streptococcus on the persistence of Brugia malayi and on the production of elephantiasis in cats

Cats were exposed to 200 Brugia malayi larvae on one hind foot over a 3 week period. Six weeks after the initial exposure to B. malayi, 10 of the cats were challenged on both hind legs with a Group G streptococcus. The remaining 10 cats were not exposed to the streptococcus. Following bacterial challenge, the B. malayi-infected leg of 9 of 10 cats displayed sequelae including erysipelas and abscesses. In addition, 5 of the affected legs had an elephantoid appearance, both by gross observation and as seen at necropsy 10 weeks after the initial B. malayi infection. The contralateral, uninfected leg of each cat remained normal in appearance. Histologic processing and examination of the elephantoid tissue showed it to be collagen; eosinophils and mast cells were plentiful in the collagen matrix. In the controls, only 1 animal displayed erysipelas and no abscesses were seen. Lymphedema seen in the B. malayi-infected leg of 5 control cats was less extensive than in uninfected cats challenged with streptococci and at necropsy no significant collagen matrix was evident. The location and number of worms in the lymphatics were noted. This study demonstrated that secondary microbial infections can contribute to the causation of elephantiasis under certain circumstances and that developing B. malayi were in some way adversely affected by the streptococcal involvement of the filaria-infected lymphatics.

Naturally occurring persistent feline oncornavirus infections in the absence of disease

Healthy feline leukemia virus (FeLV)-infected cats from leukemia cluster environments were followed for up to 23 months for development of disease and evidence of alteration in the hemogram. The incidence of disease development in FeLV-postive cats was more than fivefold higher than the incidence for FeLV-negative cats. Ten cases of leukemia developed in 69 infected cats, whereas one case of leukemia occurred in 59 uninfected cats. The incidence for development of diseases other than leukemia was 30.4 percent for FeLV-infected cats as opposed to 6.8 per cent for uninfected cats. This could be a result of the immunosuppressive effects of FeLV. Felv-infected cats had no evidence of subclinical anemia. Mean packed cell volumes and total leukocyte counts were about the same for infected and uninfected animals. The only variation seen in healthy FeLV-infected cats was a decreased mean lymphocyte count. The difference between mean lymphocyte count for FeLV-infected and uninfected animals was significant at the 0.999 level. These findings suggest that the incubation period for feline leukemia may be very prolonged under natural conditions and that an increased susceptibility to unrelated infectious diseases exists during this period. This increased susceptibility was apparently not associated with anemia or depressed total leukocyte counts.

Lymphographic changes in cats with filariasis

Chronological lymphographic studies on 24 cats experimentally infected with a strain of Brugia pahangi revealed marked changes in the diseased lymphatics and nodes, which were detectable as early as the 15th day after infection, 8 uninfected cats were used as control. Significant findings were: (1) Marked nodal enlargement with occasionally visible filling defects, (2) Lymphatic dilatation—sometimes as much as 5 times as wide as the corresponding lymphatics in the uninfected limb, (3) Tortuosity of the dilated lymphatics, (4) Leakage of the contrast medium from the diseased lymphatics. Follow-up X-rays showed stasis of contrast medium in the affected lymphatics in some cats for as long as 6 weeks after lymphography. In selected cats that were autopsied, filarial worms were found in transverse and longitudinal sections of those lymphatics and nodes shown on lymphography to be diseased. These studies indicate that in endemic filarial areas it may be possible to detect early lymphatic involvement by lymphography which would then enable effective treatment of the patients, before the distressing and irreversible sequelae of filarial disease—chronic lymphoedema and elephantiasis—occur.

Infection of Cyclops with Coracidium of Oriental Diphyllobothrids and their Development to Mature Procercoid Stage

Janicki and Rosen1 showed that certain copepod crustaceans belonging to the genera Cyclops and Diaptomus were the first intermediate hosts of Diphyllobothrium latum. Okumura2 found that Cyclops leukarti was the necessary first intermediate host of a species of Diphyllobothrium which he designated as “Sparganum mansoni”. Since considerable doubt has been indicated as to whether the spargana found in man and other vertebrates in the Orient belong to one of several species, the present writers have undertaken to study the life cycle of forms found in North China.In one series of cases eggs from naturally infected dogs and cats have been utilized as the starting point of the experiment; in another, spargana commonly found in the somatic musculature of the hedgehog, Erinaceus dealbatus, have been fed to uninfected dogs and cats, resulting in the development of these larvae into adult worms, from which, eggs were readily obtained. Morphological study of the mature worms in these cases has shown that the former ...