Detection of Feline Coronavirus in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid from Cats with Atypical Lower Airway and Lung Disease: Suspicion of Virus-Associated Pneumonia or Pneumonitis

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 8; p. 1219
• Main Authors: Chang, Wei-Tao, Chen, Pin-Yen, Lo, Pei-Ying, Chen, Hui-Wen, Lin, Chung-Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.04.2024
• Subjects: adrenal cortex hormones; animals; Bacterial pneumonia; Bronchitis; bronchoalveolar lavage; Cats; Cellular biology; Coronaviruses; Corticosteroids; cytoplasm; Feline coronavirus; feline infectious peritonitis; fluorescent antibody technique; Health aspects; Infections; Lavage; lower airway; lung; Lung diseases; lungs; macrophages; Males; Medical records; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Normal distribution; Pneumonia; Polymerase chain reaction; prognosis; sample size; Viruses; Taiwan; United States > US; lung; pneumonia; pneumonitis; lower airway; feline coronavirus; bronchoalveolar lavage; feline infectious peritonitis
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani14081219

The premortem understanding of the role of feline coronavirus (FeCoV) in the lungs of cats is limited as viruses are seldom inspected in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens of small animal patients. This study retrospectively analyzed the prevalence of FeCoV in BAL samples from cats with atypical lower airway and lung disease, as well as the clinical characteristics, diagnostic findings, and follow-up information. Of 1162 clinical samples submitted for FeCoV RT-nPCR, 25 were BAL fluid. After excluding 1 case with chronic aspiration, FeCoV was found in 3/24 (13%) BAL specimens, with 2 having immunofluorescence staining confirming the presence of FeCoV within the cytoplasm of alveolar macrophages. The cats with FeCoV in BAL fluid more often had pulmonary nodular lesions (66% vs. 19%, p = 0.14) and multinucleated cells on cytology (100% vs. 48%, p = 0.22) compared to the cats without, but these differences did not reach statistical significance due to the small sample size. Three cats showed an initial positive response to the corticosteroid treatment based on the clinical signs and radiological findings, but the long-term prognosis varied. The clinical suspicion of FeCoV-associated pneumonia or pneumonitis was raised since no other pathogens were found after extensive investigations. Further studies are warranted to investigate the interaction between FeCoV and lung responses in cats.