No Evidence of Herpesvirus Infection in West Highland White Terriers With Canine Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
In humans, horses, and rodents, an association between pulmonary fibrotic disorders and gammaherpesvirus infection has been suggested. In dogs, canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (CIPF), a progressive fibrotic lung disease of unknown origin and poorly understood pathophysiology, has been reported to occur in West Highland white terriers (WHWTs). The present study investigated the potential association between CIPF and herpesvirus infection. A PCR assay, using a mixture of degenerate and deoxyinosine-substituted primers targeting highly conserved regions of the DNA polymerase gene (DPOL) of herpesviruses, was applied on both lung and blood samples from WHWTs affected with CIPF and controls. Herpesvirus DPOL sequence could not be amplified from any of 46 lung samples (28 affected WHWTs and 18 control dogs of various breeds) and 38 blood samples (19 CIPF WHWTs and 19 control age-matched WHWTs) included. An association between CIPF and herpesvirus infection is therefore unlikely. Investigation of other causes of the disease is warranted.
Department of Clinical Sciences, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium eroels@ulg.ac.be.
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Roels
Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
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Dourcy
Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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Holopainen
Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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Rajamäki
Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
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Gillet
Robert Koch-Institute, Berlin, Germany.
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Ehlers
Department of Clinical Sciences, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
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Clercx
D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary*; D054990:Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D008168:Lung / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary
dogs; gammaherpesviruses; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; lung; respiratory