Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Bartonella henselae antibodies in cats with and without brain disease
By Pearce, Laurie K et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2006·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prevalence of Bartonella henselae antibodies in serum of cats with and without clinical signs of central nervous system disease.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with seizures and other neurological problems were tested for antibodies to a bacteria called Bartonella henselae, which can sometimes affect the nervous system. The study found that cats with neurological issues did not have higher rates of this bacteria compared to healthy cats or those with other health problems. Interestingly, while cats with seizures had higher antibody levels than those with different neurological diseases, healthy cats actually had even higher levels than the seizure cats. This suggests that just having these antibodies doesn’t necessarily mean the neurological symptoms are caused by the bacteria.
Abstract
Bartonella henselae is occasionally associated with neurological dysfunction in people and some experimentally infected cats. The purpose of this study was to determine whether B henselae seroprevalence or titer magnitude varies among cats with neurological disease, cats with non-neurological diseases, and healthy cats while controlling for age and flea exposure. There was no difference in B henselae seroprevalence rates between cats with seizures and cats with other neurological diseases. Cats with non-neurological disease and healthy cats were more likely than cats with neurological disease to be seropositive. While the median B henselae antibody titer was greater in cats with seizures than in cats with other neurological disease, the median B henselae antibody titer was also greater in healthy cats than cats with seizures. The results suggest that titer magnitude cannot be used alone to document clinical disease associated with B henselae infection and that presence of B henselae antibodies in serum of cats with neurological disease does not prove the clinical signs are related to B henselae.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16949848/