title: Association between faecal shedding of feline coronavirus and serum alpha1-acid glycoprotein sialylation.
abstract: The sialylation pattern of serum alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) in non-symptomatic cats infected by feline coronavirus (FCoV) and its possible relationship with the amount of FCoVs shed in faeces were investigated. Blood from three specific pathogen-free cats (group A) and from 10 non-symptomatic FCoV-positive cats from catteries with low (group B, three cats) or high (group C, seven cats) levels of faecal shedding were collected monthly. AGP was purified from serum and Western blotting followed by lectin-staining of alpha(2,3)-linked and alpha(2,6)-linked sialic acid. Faecal shedding was quantified in group C by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Variations of AGP sialylation were recorded only in cats from group C, on which viral shedding peaked before the occurrence of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) in the cattery, and decreased 1 month later, when serum AGP had an increase of alpha(2,3)-linked sialic acid. These results suggest that hypersialylation of AGP may be involved in host-virus interactions.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Patologia Animale Igiene e Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria, Via Celoria 10, Milan, Italy. saverio.paltrinieri@unimi.it
authors.forename: Saverio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paltrinieri
authors.forename: Maria E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Gelain
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ceciliani
authors.forename: Alba M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ribera
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Battilani
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000821:virology; D002415:Cats; D016765:Coronavirus, Feline / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D016766:Feline Infectious Peritonitis / Q000097:blood* / Q000821:virology; D009961:Orosomucoid / Q000378:metabolism*; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; D017201:Virus Shedding
chemical_list: D009961:Orosomucoid