Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Domestic Cat Hepadnavirus Found in Blood and Liver of Malaysian Cats
By Anpuanandam, Khanmani et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2021·Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Molecular detection and characterisation of Domestic Cat Hepadnavirus (DCH) from blood and liver tissues of cats in Malaysia.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of domestic cats in Malaysia was tested for a newly discovered virus called Domestic Cat Hepadnavirus (DCH), which is similar to the human hepatitis B virus. About 12.3% of the cats had the virus, with a higher detection rate in pet cats (16.6%) compared to shelter cats (6.5%). Many of the infected cats showed elevated liver enzyme levels, indicating potential liver issues. The study suggests that pet cats with high liver enzymes are more likely to carry this virus, but more research is needed to understand its effects on feline liver health.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: A new domestic cat hepadnavirus (DCH, family Hepadnaviridae) was first reported from whole blood samples of domestic cats in Australia in 2018, and from cat serum samples in Italy in 2019. The pathogenesis of DCH is unknown, but it was reported in cats with viraemia (6.5-10.8%), chronic hepatitis (43%) and hepatocellular carcinoma (28%). Recent reports suggest that DCH resembles the human hepatitis B virus (HBV) and its related hepatopathies. This study aims to detect and characterize DCH among domestic cats in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was performed on 253 cats, of which 87 had paired blood and liver samples, entailing whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of DCH from a liver tissue sample. RESULTS: Among the 253 cats included in this study, 12.3% of the whole blood samples tested positive for DCH. The detection rate was significantly higher in pet cats (16.6%, n = 24/145) compared to shelter cats (6.5%, n = 7/108). Liver tissues showed higher a DCH detection rate (14.9%, n = 13/87) compared to blood; 5 out of these 13 cats tested positive for DCH in their paired liver and blood samples. Serum alanine transaminase (ALT) was elevated (> 95 units/L) in 12 out of the 23 DCH-positive cats (52.2%, p = 0.012). Whole-genome sequence analysis revealed that the Malaysian DCH strain, with a genome size of 3184 bp, had 98.3% and 97.5% nucleotide identities to the Australian and Italian strains, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the Malaysian DCH genome was clustered closely to the Australian strain, suggesting that they belong to the same geographically-determined genetic pool (Australasia). CONCLUSIONS: This study provided insights into a Malaysian DCH strain that was detected from a liver tissue. Interestingly, pet cats or cats with elevated ALT were significantly more likely to be DCH positive. Cats with positive DCH detection from liver tissues may not necessarily have viraemia. The impact of this virus on inducing liver diseases in felines warrants further investigation.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33407487/