Detection of bovine papillomavirus type 2 in the peripheral blood of cattle with urinary bladder tumours: possible biological role.
Bovine papillomavirus type 2 (BPV-2) infection has been associated with urinary bladder tumours in adult cattle grazing on bracken fern-infested land. In this study, we investigated the simultaneous presence of BPV-2 in whole blood and urinary bladder tumours of adult cattle in an attempt to better understand the biological role of circulating BPV-2. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 78 cattle clinically suffering from a severe chronic enzootic haematuria. Circulating BPV-2 DNA was detected in 61 of them and in two blood samples from healthy cows. Fifty of the affected animals were slaughtered at public slaughterhouses and neoplastic proliferations in the urinary bladder were detected in all of them. BPV-2 DNA was amplified and sequenced in 78 % of urinary bladder tumour samples and in 38.9 % of normal samples as a control. Circulating episomal BPV-2 DNA was detected in 78.2 % of the blood samples. Simultaneous presence of BPV-2 DNA in neoplastic bladder and blood samples was detected in 37 animals. Specific viral E5 mRNA and E5 oncoprotein were also detected in blood by RT-PCR and Western blot/immunocytochemistry, respectively. It is likely that BPV-2 can persist and be maintained in an active status in the bloodstream, in particular in the lymphocytes, as a reservoir of viral infection that, in the presence of co-carcinogens, may cause the development of urinary bladder tumours.
Roperto
Sante
S
Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Brun
Roberto
R
Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Paolini
Francesca
F
Laboratory of Virology, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.
Urraro
Chiara
C
Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Russo
Valeria
V
Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Borzacchiello
Giuseppe
G
Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Pagnini
Ugo
U
Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Raso
Cinzia
C
Department of Experimental Medicine and Clinics, Catanzaro University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
Rizzo
Consuelo
C
Laboratory of Virology, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.
Roperto
Franco
F
Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Venuti
Aldo
A
Laboratory of Virology, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.
D000818:Animals; D052688:Bovine papillomavirus 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006417:Hematuria / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D010212:Papilloma / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology
D004279:DNA, Viral