Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Detecting feline coronavirus in cat eye fluid for FIP diagnosis
By Sangl, Laura et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2020·Clinic of Small Animal Medicine (Sangl, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Detection of feline coronavirus RNA, spike gene mutations, and feline coronavirus antigen in macrophages in aqueous humor of cats in the diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with uveitis, which is inflammation of the eye, was studied to help diagnose feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a serious viral disease. Researchers tested different methods to detect feline coronavirus in the fluid from the eye, including a PCR test and immunocytochemistry. While one PCR test showed high specificity, its sensitivity was low, meaning it missed many cases of FIP. The immunocytochemistry method had better sensitivity but still wasn't reliable enough for diagnosing FIP. Overall, the combination of these tests might help, but more reliable methods are needed for accurate diagnosis.
People also search for: cat eye inflammation · feline infectious peritonitis symptoms · how to diagnose FIP in cats
Abstract
Uveitis is common in cats, and is often a feature of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). We evaluated 3 tools for detection of feline coronavirus (FCoV) in aqueous humor: 1) agene reverse-transcription real-time PCR (-RT-rtPCR) assay to detect FCoV RNA, 2) a spike gene mutation RT-rtPCR (-RT-rtPCR) assay to detect 2 point mutations in the spike gene of FCoV in cats positive by-RT-rtPCR, and 3) immunocytochemistry (ICC) for detection of FCoV antigen in aqueous humor macrophages. We studied 58 cats, including 31 cats with FIP and 27 control cats. FIP was excluded by postmortem examination and negative immunohistochemistry (IHC). Aqueous humor samples obtained postmortem were assessed using-RT-rtPCR in all cats, and positive samples were evaluated with-RT-rtPCR. ICC evaluation of aqueous humor samples from 36 of the 58 cats was done using an avidin-biotin complex method and monoclonal anti-FCoV IgG 2A. Sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values were calculated including 95% CIs.-RT-rtPCR had a specificity of 100.0% (95% CI: 87.2-100.0) and sensitivity of 35.5% (95% CI: 19.2-54.6). Specificity of-RT-rtPCR could not be determined because there were no FCoV-RT-rtPCR-positive samples in the control group. Sensitivity of-RT-rtPCR was 12.9% (95% CI 3.6-29.8). Sensitivity and specificity of ICC were 62.5% (95% CI: 40.6-81.2) and 80.0% (95% CI: 44.4-97.5), respectively. The combination of-RT-rtPCR and IHC could be useful in diagnosing FIP;-RT-rtPCR did not add value; and ICC of aqueous humor samples cannot be recommended for the diagnosis of FIP.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32517543/