title: Prevalence of Bartonella henselae antibodies in serum of cats with and without clinical signs of central nervous system disease.
abstract: Bartonella henselae is occasionally associated with neurological dysfunction in people and some experimentally infected cats. The purpose of this study was to determine whether B henselae seroprevalence or titer magnitude varies among cats with neurological disease, cats with non-neurological diseases, and healthy cats while controlling for age and flea exposure. There was no difference in B henselae seroprevalence rates between cats with seizures and cats with other neurological diseases. Cats with non-neurological disease and healthy cats were more likely than cats with neurological disease to be seropositive. While the median B henselae antibody titer was greater in cats with seizures than in cats with other neurological disease, the median B henselae antibody titer was also greater in healthy cats than cats with seizures. The results suggest that titer magnitude cannot be used alone to document clinical disease associated with B henselae infection and that presence of B henselae antibodies in serum of cats with neurological disease does not prove the clinical signs are related to B henselae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA. lpearce@lamar.colostate.edu
authors.forename: Laurie K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.forename: Steven V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Radecki
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brewer
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lappin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D018416:Bartonella henselae / Q000276:immunology*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D002372:Cat-Scratch Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002415:Cats / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial