Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Testing blood and eye fluid for infections in cats with uveitis
By Powell, Cynthia C et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2010·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Bartonella species, feline herpesvirus-1, and Toxoplasma gondii PCR assay results from blood and aqueous humor samples from 104 cats with naturally occurring endogenous uveitis.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 104 cats with eye inflammation (uveitis) were tested for three possible causes: Toxoplasma gondii, Bartonella species, and feline herpesvirus-1. Researchers used a special test called PCR to look for the DNA of these organisms in blood and eye fluid samples. The results indicated that using PCR could help identify Toxoplasma and feline herpesvirus in cats with uveitis more effectively than traditional antibody tests. However, it remains uncertain how much this information will improve diagnosis and treatment for affected cats.
People also search for: cat eye inflammation causes · feline herpesvirus treatment · Toxoplasma gondii in cats
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii, Bartonella henselae and feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1) have been implicated as causative agents in feline uveitis. The usefulness of serum and aqueous humor (AH) antibody testing for these agents is limited as antibodies can be detected in both healthy cats and cats with uveitis. Very few studies using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to amplify organism DNA from samples from cats with uveitis have been performed. In this study, assays to detect T gondii antibodies, feline leukemia virus antigen, feline immunodeficiency virus antibody, and Bartonella species antibodies were performed on serum and PCR assays for amplification of T gondii, Bartonella species, and FHV-1 DNA were performed on blood and AH samples from 104 cats with endogenous uveitis and 19 healthy cats. Results suggest the addition of the PCR assay to the diagnostic work-up for cats with uveitis will increase the detection of T gondii and FHV-1; however, the diagnostic usefulness of these additional data is not clear.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20817587/