Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
Viruses. 2022 Mar 9;14(3):566. doi: 10.3390/v14030566.
Felis catus gammaherpesvirus-1 (FcaGHV1), a novel candidate oncogenic virus, infects cats worldwide. Whether the oropharynx is a site of virus shedding and persistence, and whether oronasal carcinomas harbor FcaGHV1 nucleic acid were investigated. In a prospective molecular epidemiological study, FcaGHV1 DNA was detected by cPCR in oropharyngeal swabs from 26/155 (16.8%) of cats. Oropharyngeal shedding was less frequently detected in kittens ≤3 months of age (5/94, 5.3%) than in older animals; >3 months to ≤1 year: 8/26, 30.8%, (p = 0.001, OR 7.91, 95% CI (2.320, 26.979)); >1 year to ≤6 years: 10/20, 50%, (p < 0.001, OR 17.8 95% CI (5.065, 62.557)); >6 years: 3/15, 33% (p = 0.078). Provenance (shelter-owned/privately owned) was not associated with shedding. In situ hybridization (ISH) identified FcaGHV1-infected cells in salivary glandular epithelium but not in other oronasal tissues from two of three cats shedding viral DNA in the oropharynx. In a retrospective dataset of 11 oronasopharyngeal carcinomas, a single tumor tested positive for FcaGHV1 DNA by ISH, a papillary carcinoma, where scattered neoplastic cells showed discrete nuclear hybridization. These data support the oronasopharynx as a site of FcaGHV1 shedding, particularly after maternal antibodies are expected to decline. The salivary epithelium is identified as a potential site of FcaGHV1 persistence. No evidence supporting a role for FcaGHV1 in feline oronasal carcinomas was found in the examined tumours.
猫γ疱疹病毒 1（Felis catus gammaherpesvirus-1，FcaGHV1）是一种新型候选致癌病毒，可感染全球范围内的猫。本研究旨在调查口咽部是否为病毒脱落和持续存在的部位，以及是否有口咽癌携带 FcaGHV1 核酸。在一项前瞻性分子流行病学研究中，通过 cPCR 在 155 只猫的口咽拭子中检测到了 FcaGHV1 DNA，其中 26 只（16.8%）呈阳性。
口咽脱落的检测频率在≤3 月龄的幼猫（5/94，5.3%）中低于大龄猫（>3 月龄至≤1 岁：8/26，30.8%，p=0.001，OR 7.91，95%CI（2.320，26.979）；>1 岁至≤6 岁：10/20，50%，p < 0.001，OR 17.8，95%CI（5.065，62.557）；>6 岁：3/15，33%，p=0.078）。来源（收容所拥有/私人拥有）与脱落无关。在 3 只口咽拭子病毒 DNA 脱落的猫中，有 2 只的唾液腺上皮细胞中检测到了 FcaGHV1 感染细胞，但在其他口咽组织中未检测到。在 11 例口咽癌的回顾性数据集，通过原位杂交（ISH），有 1 例乳头状癌检测到了 FcaGHV1 DNA 阳性，在其中散在的肿瘤细胞显示出离散的核杂交。这些数据支持口咽是 FcaGHV1 脱落的部位，尤其是在预期母源抗体下降后。唾液腺上皮被确定为 FcaGHV1 持续存在的潜在部位。在检查的肿瘤中未发现 FcaGHV1 支持猫口咽癌的证据。
