Evaluation CD4:CD8 ratio in cats infected with feline leukemia virus

• Grant number: 08/00061-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2008
• End date: December 31, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Mitika Kuribayashi Hagiwara
• Grantee: Fernanda Fidelis Gonsales
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The feline leukemia virus (FeLV), a gammaretrovírus of domestic cats, is a member of the Oncornavirus subfamily of retroviruses, is worldwide distributed and can cause variable clinical signs and diseases in domestic cats. FeLV is an exogenous agent that replicates within many tissues, including bone marrow, salivary glands and respiratory epithelium. It can cause clinical illness related to the hematopoietic and immune systems and neoplasia. After initial infection, the provirus is integrated into the host DNA, and if the immune response does not intervene, FeLV spreads to the bone marrow and infects hematopoietic precursor cells. Diseases associated with immune suppression account for a large proportion of the morbidity and mortality of FeLV- infected cats. Depletion of lymphocytes T CD4+ and T CD8+ may occur in some cases of FeLV-infected cats.. It is thought that viral glycoprotein 70 (gp70) assumes important role in the maintenance of the infection and promoting the depletion T CD4+ lymphocytes. With the progression of the infection, reduction of T CD8+ lymphocytes may also occur, parallel to the persistence of the infection. Thus, the evaluation of T CD4+: CD8+ in persistently FeLV-infected cats may give us further informations as to the course and prognosis of the infection.