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- Author or Editor: Helen Kado-Fong x
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Abstract
Objective—To assess effects of disease severity, sampling instrument, and processing technique on extracted DNA yield and detection rate for feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1) via PCR assay.
Sample Population—Crandell-Rees feline kidney (CRFK) cells grown in vitro and conjunctival samples from 40 eyes of 20 cats.
Procedures—Samples of CRFK cells (collected by use of a swab or cytology brush, with or without suspension in PBS solution) underwent DNA extraction; DNA yield was quantified spectrophotometrically. In affected cats, signs of herpetic disease were subjectively assessed. Conjunctival swab and brush samples were collected bilaterally for measurement of DNA concentration; a defined mass (DM) of DNA and defined volume (DV) of sample were assessed for FHV-1 via PCR assays.
Results—For CRFK cells, DNA yields from unsuspended swabs and brushes were greater than for suspended swabs and brushes; suspended swab samples yielded less DNA than suspended brush samples. For conjunctival samples, DNA yields from swabs were greater than for brushes. Clinical score was not correlated with double-stranded DNA yield collected via either sampling instrument; however, cats with FHV-1–positive assay results had higher clinical scores than cats with FHV-1–negative results. Detection of FHV-1 in swab and brush samples was similar. Double-stranded DNA yield and FHV-1 detection were inversely related via DM-PCR assay. The DV-PCR assay had a significantly higher FHV-1 detection rate than the DM-PCR assay.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—The DV-PCR assay of DNA extracted from an unsuspended swab sample was the preferred method for assessment of conjunctival shedding of FHV-1 in cats.
Abstract
Objective—To detect feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) in blood of cats undergoing experimental primary herpetic disease or with spontaneous disease presumed to be caused by FHV-1 reactivation.
Animals—6 young specific-pathogen–free (SPF) cats and 34 adult cats from a shelter.
Procedures—Conjunctiva and nares of SPF cats were inoculated with FHV-1, and cats were monitored for 21 days. Periodically, blood was collected for CBC, serum biochemical analyses, and detection of FHV-1 DNA via PCR assay. For shelter cats, a conjunctival swab specimen was collected for FHV-1 PCR assay, and blood mononuclear cells were tested via virus isolation (with or without hydrocortisone) and FHV-1 PCR assay.
Results—All SPF cats developed clinical and clinicopathologic evidence of upper respiratory tract and ocular disease only. Via PCR assay, FHV-1 DNA was detected in blood of all SPF cats at least once between 2 and 15 days after inoculation. Feline herpesvirus type 1 DNA was detected in conjunctival swabs of 27 shelter cats; 25 had clinical signs of herpetic infection. However, virus was not isolated from mononuclear cell samples of any shelter cat regardless of passage number or whether hydrocortisone was present in the culture medium; FHV-1 DNA was not detected in any mononuclear cell sample collected from shelter cats.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—A brief period of viremia occurred in cats undergoing primary herpetic disease but not in cats undergoing presumed recrudescent herpetic disease. Viremia may be important in the pathogenesis of primary herpetic disease but seems unlikely to be associated with recrudescent disease.
Abstract
Objective—To determine whether cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is expressed in benign or malignant canine uveal melanocytic neoplasms and whether expression correlates with malignancy.
Sample Population—Tissue sections from 71 globes; 57 with benign (n = 15), malignant (34), or mixed (8) uveal melanocytic neoplasms; 10 with nonneoplastic disease; and 4 with no abnormalities.
Procedures—Bleached sections from all globes and canine kidney were incubated with mouse monoclonal antibody directed against rat COX-2 protein or mouse antibody isotype control. Location, intensity, and percentage of immunolabeled cells were scored.
Results—Expression of COX-2 was detected in all but 5 globes, all of which contained neoplasms. Expression of COX-2 was detected in regions infiltrated by neoplasia in 21 globes; however, definitive labeling of tumor cells was detected in only 2 of those. In the remaining 19 globes, COX-2 expression was detected in areas also labeled in globes without disease and globes with nonneoplastic disease, especially the aqueous outflow tract and ciliary body. However, only globes with uveal malignant melanomas had detectable COX-2 expression in the iris. Expression of COX-2 was detected in the ciliary body of more globes with uveal malignant melanoma (20/34) than in those without disease (1/4), with nonneoplastic disease (4/10), or with melanocytoma (3/15) or mixed neoplasms (3/8).
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Canine globes with uveal melanocytic neoplasia appeared to express COX-2 in similar sites and with similar intensity as globes without neoplasia. Differentiation of benign from malignant canine uveal melanocytic neoplasms was not possible.
