Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
Vet Parasitol. 2011 Feb 28;176(1):23-6. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.10.022. Epub 2010 Oct 19.
Kidney disease is a common and serious condition in domestic cats. There are numerous causes of kidney disease including parasitic infection. Encephalitozoon cuniculi is a microsporidian parasite that develops in the kidneys of rabbits and causes chronic renal disease. Little has been reported concerning E. cuniculi in cats and no serological studies on this parasite in cats have been conducted in the United States to date. The present study explored the possibility that E. cuniculi is an unrecognized contributor to the high prevalence of kidney disease observed in cats. A serological survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of IgG antibodies to spores of E. cuniculi in cats with and without a diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) according to the International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) staging system. Likewise, samples were examined for IgG antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii, a common well studied protozoan of cats. Plasma and sera were obtained from 232 feline patients at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine teaching hospital. With the investigators blinded to the renal status of test subjects, samples were screened via indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay (IFA). Thirty-six of the 232 cats met the IRIS staging system criteria for CKD. Antibodies to E. cuniculi were found in 15 of the 232 samples, which included 4 of the 36 cats with CKD. Sera from cats serologically positive to E. cuniculi did not react to spores of E. intestinalis or E. hellem when examined in the IFA. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 63 of the 232 samples, which included 10 of the 36 cats with CKD. The prevalence of antibodies in cats with CKD to either protozoan was not significantly different (P>0.05) from the cats without CKD in the study. Collectively the results do not support the hypothesis that either E. cuniculi or T. gondii play a significant etiologic role in the occurrence or progression of CKD in cats.
肾病是家猫中常见且严重的病症。有许多原因可导致肾病，包括寄生虫感染。兔脑炎原虫是一种微孢子虫寄生虫，在兔子的肾脏中发育并导致慢性肾病。关于猫中的脑炎原虫，人们知之甚少，迄今为止，美国尚未对这种寄生虫进行过猫血清学研究。本研究探讨了脑炎原虫是否是导致猫中慢性肾病高发的一个未被认识到的因素。进行了血清学调查，以确定根据国际肾脏兴趣协会 (IRIS) 分期系统诊断为患有或不患有慢性肾病 (CKD) 的猫中对脑炎原虫孢子 IgG 抗体的流行率。同样，对猫中常见的、研究充分的原虫弓形体 IgG 抗体进行了检查。从弗吉尼亚-马里兰地区兽医学院教学医院的 232 只猫获得了血浆和血清。在研究人员对测试对象的肾脏状况不知情的情况下，通过间接免疫荧光抗体检测法 (IFA) 对样本进行了筛查。在 232 只猫中，有 36 只符合 CKD 的 IRIS 分期系统标准。在 232 个样本中发现了 15 个对脑炎原虫的抗体，其中包括 36 只 CKD 猫中的 4 只。在 IFA 中，对脑炎原虫血清学阳性的猫的血清与肠脑炎原虫或亥氏脑炎原虫的孢子没有反应。在 232 个样本中发现了 63 个对弓形体的抗体，其中包括 36 只 CKD 猫中的 10 只。在这项研究中，患有 CKD 的猫对任何一种原生动物的抗体的流行率与没有 CKD 的猫没有显著差异（P>0.05）。综合结果不支持脑炎原虫或弓形体在猫 CKD 的发生或进展中起重要病因作用的假设。
