Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Myelodysplastic syndromes and leukemia in cats with FeLV clone33
By Hisasue, Masaharu et al.·Published in International journal of cancer·2009·School of Veterinary Medicine, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia in cats infected with feline leukemia virus clone33 containing a unique long terminal repeat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats infected with a specific strain of feline leukemia virus (FeLV clone33) showed concerning symptoms, including low blood cell counts and changes in their bone marrow. About 41% of these cats developed myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), which can lead to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The bone marrow from these cats produced fewer blood cells compared to healthy cats, indicating serious health issues. The findings suggest that this particular strain of FeLV is linked to the development of both MDS and AML in cats, highlighting the importance of monitoring cats with FeLV for these conditions.
People also search for: cat leukemia symptoms · feline leukemia virus treatment · myelodysplastic syndromes in cats · cat blood cell count issues
Abstract
Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) clone33 was obtained from a domestic cat with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The long terminal repeat (LTR) of this virus, like the LTRs present in FeLV from other cats with AML, differs from the LTRs of other known FeLV in that it has 3 tandem direct 47-bp repeats in the upstream region of the enhancer (URE). Here, we injected cats with FeLV clone33 and found 41% developed myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) characterized by peripheral blood cytopenias and dysplastic changes in the bone marrow. Some of the cats with MDS eventually developed AML. The bone marrow of the majority of cats with FeLV clone33 induced MDS produced fewer erythroid and myeloid colonies upon being cultured with erythropoietin or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-SCF) than bone marrow from normal control cats. Furthermore, the bone marrow of some of the cats expressed high-levels of the apoptosis-related genes TNF-alpha and survivin. Analysis of the proviral sequences obtained from 13 cats with naturally occurring MDS reveal they also bear the characteristic URE repeats seen in the LTR of FeLV clone33 and other proviruses from cats with AML. Deletions and mutations within the enhancer elements are frequently observed in naturally occurring MDS as well as AML. These results suggest that FeLV variants that bear URE repeats in their LTR strongly associate with the induction of both MDS and AML in cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19035458/