Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Chronic Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis infection in cats and immune
By Novacco, Marilisa et al.·Published in Veterinary research·2011·Vetsuisse Faculty·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Chronic "Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis" infection.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of ten cats that had previously recovered from a chronic infection caused by "Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis" were studied to see if immunosuppression could reactivate the infection. Five of the cats received a high dose of a steroid medication called methylprednisolone, while the other five did not receive any treatment. The treated cats showed changes in their blood, but the steroid did not significantly reactivate the infection. All cats remained positive for antibodies against the infection, indicating they had been exposed, but the treatment did not lead to a detectable resurgence of the bacteria.
People also search for: cat chronic infection treatment · Mycoplasma turicensis in cats · cat antibody levels after treatment
Abstract
"Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis" infects felids. The pathogenesis of "Candidatus M. turicensis" chronic infection is poorly understood. The goals of the present study were to (1) induce reactivation of the infection in chronic carrier cats by attempted immunosuppression, (2) identify potential tissue sequestration using real-time TaqMan® PCR and (3) monitor the humoral immune response by DnaK enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Ten specified pathogen-free cats that had ostensibly recovered from experimental "Candidatus M. turicensis" infection were used: five cats (group 1) received high dose methylprednisolone (attempted immunosuppression), while five cats served as untreated controls (group 2). Besides weekly blood samples, tissue samples were collected from bone marrow, kidney, liver and salivary glands at selected time points. The cats in group 1 had significantly lower lymphocyte counts and higher blood glucose levels after methylprednisolone administration than the controls. After methylprednisolone administration one blood and three tissue samples from cats in group 1 tested PCR-positive; before the administration, only one sample was positive. All other samples tested PCR-negative. All cats stayed seropositive; the antibody levels of the cats in group 1 showed a significant transient decrease after methylprednisolone administration. This is the first study to report the presence of "Candidatus M. turicensis" in tissues of chronically infected cats and the persistence of anti-feline hemoplasma antibodies in the absence of detectable bacteremia. Methylprednisolone administration did not lead to a significant reactivation of the infection. Our results enhance the knowledge of "Candidatus M. turicensis" infection pathogenesis and are clinically relevant to the prognosis of hemoplasma-infected cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21507220/