Feline leishmaniasis in an animal shelter in northeastern Brazil : Clinical aspects, coinfections, molecular detection, and serological study of a new recombinant protein

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Infection and clinical cases of leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum in cats have been increasingly reported in several countries, including Brazil. In this study, we used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and an immunochromatographic test (ICT) based on a recombinant antigen (rKDDR-plus) to detect anti-Leishmania antibodies in cats from an animal shelter in northeastern Brazil. We compared the results with an ELISA using L. infantum crude antigen (ELISA-CA). We also investigated the presence of Leishmania DNA in blood or ocular conjunctival samples as well as the association between Leishmania PCR positivity and serological positivity to feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and Toxoplasma gondii. Concerning serological assays, a higher positivity was detected using the ICT-rKDDR-plus (7.5%; 7/93) as compared to ELISA-rKDDR-plus (5.4%; 5/93) and ELISA-CA (4.3%; 4/93). Upon PCR testing, 52.7% (49/93) of the ocular conjunctival swabs and 48.3% (44/91) of the blood samples were positive. Together, PCR and serological testing revealed overall positivities of 73.1% (68/93) and 12.9% (12/93), respectively. Among PCR-positive samples, 45.5% (31/68) showed co-infection with FIV, 17.6% (12/68) with FeLV, and 82.3% (56/68) with T. gondii. More than half of the PCR-positive cats showed at least one clinical sign suggestive of leishmaniasis (58.8%; 40/68) and dermatological signs were the most frequent ones (45.5%; 31/68). Both tests employing the recombinant antigen rKDDR-plus (i.e., ICT-rKDDR-plus and ELISA-rKDDR-plus) detected more positive cats than the ELISA-CA but presented low overall accuracy. PCR testing using either blood or ocular conjunctival samples detected much more positive cats than serological tests.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:172

Enthalten in:

Research in veterinary science - 172(2024) vom: 09. Apr., Seite 105256

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Nascimento, Luiz Fernando de Jesus [VerfasserIn]
Amado-Gomes, Ana Carolina [VerfasserIn]
Dantas-Torres, Filipe [VerfasserIn]
Santos, Fred Luciano Neves [VerfasserIn]
Neres, Wemerson de Santana [VerfasserIn]
Filho, Pedro Estevão de Souza [VerfasserIn]
Santos, Mariana Tibúrcio [VerfasserIn]
Silva, José Rodrigo Santos [VerfasserIn]
Resende, Cláudia Fideles [VerfasserIn]
Dos Reis, Jenner Karlisson Pimenta [VerfasserIn]
Jain, Sona [VerfasserIn]
Cunha, João Luís Reis [VerfasserIn]
Fujiwara, Ricardo Toshio [VerfasserIn]
Dolabella, Silvio Santana [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Clinical signs
Feline leishmaniasis
Immunological diagnosis
Journal Article
Leishmania coinfections
RKDDR-plus

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 13.04.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status Publisher

doi:

10.1016/j.rvsc.2024.105256

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM371032350