Measuring the Humoral Immune Response in Cats Exposed to Feline Leukaemia Virus
Retroviruses belong to an important and diverse family of RNA viruses capable of causing neoplastic disease in their hosts. Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) is a gammaretrovirus that infects domestic and wild cats, causing immunodeficiency, cytopenia and neoplasia in progressively infected cats. The ou...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Viruses |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/3/428 |
| _version_ | 1797412549953585152 |
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| author | Yasmin A. Parr Melissa J. Beall Julie K. Levy Michael McDonald Natascha T. Hamman Brian J. Willett Margaret J. Hosie |
| author_facet | Yasmin A. Parr Melissa J. Beall Julie K. Levy Michael McDonald Natascha T. Hamman Brian J. Willett Margaret J. Hosie |
| author_sort | Yasmin A. Parr |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Retroviruses belong to an important and diverse family of RNA viruses capable of causing neoplastic disease in their hosts. Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) is a gammaretrovirus that infects domestic and wild cats, causing immunodeficiency, cytopenia and neoplasia in progressively infected cats. The outcome of FeLV infection is influenced by the host immune response; progressively infected cats demonstrate weaker immune responses compared to regressively infected cats. In this study, humoral immune responses were examined in 180 samples collected from 123 domestic cats that had been naturally exposed to FeLV, using a novel ELISA to measure antibodies recognizing the FeLV surface unit (SU) glycoprotein in plasma samples. A correlation was demonstrated between the strength of the humoral immune response to the SU protein and the outcome of exposure. Cats with regressive infection demonstrated higher antibody responses to the SU protein compared to cats belonging to other outcome groups, and samples from cats with regressive infection contained virus neutralising antibodies. These results demonstrate that an ELISA that assesses the humoral response to FeLV SU complements the use of viral diagnostic tests to define the outcome of exposure to FeLV. Together these tests could allow the rapid identification of regressively infected cats that are unlikely to develop FeLV-related disease. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:03:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1f9fda209e36405fbdb55315fcb09cc4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4915 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:03:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Viruses |
| spelling | doaj.art-1f9fda209e36405fbdb55315fcb09cc42023-12-03T12:56:40ZengMDPI AGViruses1999-49152021-03-0113342810.3390/v13030428Measuring the Humoral Immune Response in Cats Exposed to Feline Leukaemia VirusYasmin A. Parr0Melissa J. Beall1Julie K. Levy2Michael McDonald3Natascha T. Hamman4Brian J. Willett5Margaret J. Hosie6MRC—University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, Scotland G61 1QH, UKIDEXX Laboratories, Inc.—Westbrook, ME 04092, USAMaddie’s Shelter Medicine Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USAVeterinary Diagnostic Services, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland G61 1QH, UKAustin Pets Alive!, Austin, TX 78703, USAMRC—University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, Scotland G61 1QH, UKMRC—University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, Scotland G61 1QH, UKRetroviruses belong to an important and diverse family of RNA viruses capable of causing neoplastic disease in their hosts. Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) is a gammaretrovirus that infects domestic and wild cats, causing immunodeficiency, cytopenia and neoplasia in progressively infected cats. The outcome of FeLV infection is influenced by the host immune response; progressively infected cats demonstrate weaker immune responses compared to regressively infected cats. In this study, humoral immune responses were examined in 180 samples collected from 123 domestic cats that had been naturally exposed to FeLV, using a novel ELISA to measure antibodies recognizing the FeLV surface unit (SU) glycoprotein in plasma samples. A correlation was demonstrated between the strength of the humoral immune response to the SU protein and the outcome of exposure. Cats with regressive infection demonstrated higher antibody responses to the SU protein compared to cats belonging to other outcome groups, and samples from cats with regressive infection contained virus neutralising antibodies. These results demonstrate that an ELISA that assesses the humoral response to FeLV SU complements the use of viral diagnostic tests to define the outcome of exposure to FeLV. Together these tests could allow the rapid identification of regressively infected cats that are unlikely to develop FeLV-related disease.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/3/428FeLVretrovirushumoral immune responsediagnosticsexposure outcomesSU antibody response |
| spellingShingle | Yasmin A. Parr Melissa J. Beall Julie K. Levy Michael McDonald Natascha T. Hamman Brian J. Willett Margaret J. Hosie Measuring the Humoral Immune Response in Cats Exposed to Feline Leukaemia Virus Viruses FeLV retrovirus humoral immune response diagnostics exposure outcomes SU antibody response |
| title | Measuring the Humoral Immune Response in Cats Exposed to Feline Leukaemia Virus |
| title_full | Measuring the Humoral Immune Response in Cats Exposed to Feline Leukaemia Virus |
| title_fullStr | Measuring the Humoral Immune Response in Cats Exposed to Feline Leukaemia Virus |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measuring the Humoral Immune Response in Cats Exposed to Feline Leukaemia Virus |
| title_short | Measuring the Humoral Immune Response in Cats Exposed to Feline Leukaemia Virus |
| title_sort | measuring the humoral immune response in cats exposed to feline leukaemia virus |
| topic | FeLV retrovirus humoral immune response diagnostics exposure outcomes SU antibody response |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/3/428 |
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