Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat hepadnavirus infection in cats with liver test changes
By Scavone, Donatella et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2022·Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluating the presence of domestic cat hepadnavirus viraemia in cats with biochemical alterations suggestive of liver disease.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 96 cats showing signs of liver disease had their blood tested for a virus called domestic cat hepadnavirus (DCH). Out of these cats, 44 showed potential liver damage, and four tested positive for DCH, with three of those having some level of liver disease. This suggests that while DCH may be linked to liver issues in cats, more research is needed to understand its role. If your cat has liver problems, it might be worth discussing DCH testing with your veterinarian.
People also search for: cat liver disease symptoms · domestic cat hepadnavirus testing · cat liver disease treatment
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The association between domestic cat hepadnavirus (DCH) infection and feline chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma has been suggested. However, studies focused on the association between DCH infection and clinicopathological changes consistent with liver disease in cats are not available. METHODS: This retrospective investigation included sera obtained from 96 cats that had the serum activity of at least alanine aminotransferase or alkaline phosphatase measured during initial diagnostic work-up. Based on these haematobiochemical results, cats were categorised according to their likelihood of having liver disease (absent, low, intermediate or high). DCH DNA was detected using real-time PCR, nested PCR and sequencing. RESULTS: Overall, potential liver damage was observed in 44 cats, including cats with low (n = 14), intermediate (n = 10) and high (n = 20) likelihood of liver disease. Four cats (4.2%) were DCH-positive, with three positive cats belonging to the liver disease group (two with low and one with intermediate likelihood of liver disease). CONCLUSIONS: Although the pathogenic potential of DCH in cats still has to be clarified, these results suggest that DCH testing should not be based only on the presence of biochemical changes potentially consistent with liver disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35393638/