Oropharyngeal Shedding of Gammaherpesvirus DNA by Cats, and Natural Infection of Salivary Epithelium

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 14; no. 3; p. 566
• Main Authors: Rose, Elizabeth C, Tse, Tiffany Y, Oates, Andrew W, Jackson, Ken, Pfeiffer, Susanne, Donahoe, Shannon L, Setyo, Laura, Barrs, Vanessa R, Beatty, Julia A, Pesavento, Patricia A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 09-03-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Age groups; Animals; Cancer; Carcinoma; Carcinoma - complications; Cat Diseases; Cats; Communication; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA, Viral - genetics; Epidemiology; Epithelium; Epstein-Barr virus; Exocrine glands; feline; Female; Gammaherpesvirinae - genetics; gammaherpesvirus; Genetic testing; Herpesviridae Infections; Hybridization; Infections; oncogenesis; Oropharynx; Prospective Studies; Retrospective Studies; shedding; Statistical analysis; transmission; Tumors; Variables; Viral infections; Virus Shedding; United States > US; shedding; feline; gammaherpesvirus; transmission; carcinoma; oncogenesis
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• 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.