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Experimental infection of domestic cats with passaged genotype I Bartonella henselae.

Experimental infection of domestic cats with passaged genotype I Bartonella henselae.

Authors :
Werner JA
Kasten RW
Feng S
Sykes JE
Hodzic E
Salemi MR
Barthold SW
Chomel BB
Source :
Veterinary microbiology [Vet Microbiol] 2007 Jun 21; Vol. 122 (3-4), pp. 290-7. Date of Electronic Publication: 2007 Jan 31.
Publication Year :
2007

Abstract

The influence of in vitro passage on Bartonella henselae pathogenesis in cats has not been thoroughly evaluated. Our objective was to examine the bacterial kinetics and humoral immune responses in cats experimentally infected with three different in vitro passages of B. henselae F1, a genotype I strain of feline origin. The F1 strain was in vitro passaged 20 and 40 times, and each was inoculated into a group of 5 cats. The kinetics of bacteremia and the feline humoral immune response to bacterial antigens were compared to a previous study involving a group of six cats inoculated with the original F1 strain. Among the three groups of cats, the kinetics of bacteremia profiles and the humoral immune responses to B. henselae lysates were similar. The influence of passage on bacterial membrane proteins was examined. In vitro passage altered the expression of 4/17 (23.5%) bacterial membrane proteins and 6/15 (40%) bacterial membrane antigens. An association between poor seroreactivity to three lysate antigens (15-, 18- and 45kDa), prolonged bacteremia and decreased serum bactericidal activity was noted. Our data show that in vitro passage of B. henselae did not alter the kinetics of bacteremia, including the occurrence of relapsing bacteremia, in experimentally infected cats. This suggests that highly passaged strains may not be suitable for future vaccination studies. Furthermore, in vitro passage results in phenotypic and antigenic changes in the bacterial membrane protein profile, which warrants caution in the interpretation of studies involving passaged B. henselae strains.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0378-1135
Volume :
122
Issue :
3-4
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Veterinary microbiology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
17321078
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2007.01.018