Abstract
Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) is an emerging infectious disease in which some patients experience unusual opportunistic infections. In this study, cats infected with the HGE agent, Anaplasma phagocytophila s.l., had clinical granulocytic ehrlichiosis (GE), anti-nuclear antibodies and increased IFN-γ mRNA. In FIV-immunosuppressed cats with GE, there was upregulated IL-10 transcription but not IFN-γ. Cats with FIV had poor response to vaccines, regardless of GE status. This preliminary report demonstrates that cats with FIV-infection make a good model of chrlichiosis in an immunocompromised host, and that viral immunosuppression may not increase the severity of ehrlichiosis but may attenuate immune responses to the pathogen.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 103-113 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2003 |
Keywords
- Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
- Anaplasma phagocytophila
- Feline immunodeficiency virus
- Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Immunology
- Microbiology
- veterinary(all)