title: Detection of bovine papillomavirus type 2 in the peripheral blood of cattle with urinary bladder tumours: possible biological role.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Sante
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roperto
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brun
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paolini
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Urraro
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borzacchiello
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Ugo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pagnini
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine and Clinics, Catanzaro University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raso
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Consuelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Naples University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Roperto
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venuti
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral