title: Identification of Mucosa-Invading and Intravascular Bacteria in Feline Small Intestinal Lymphoma.
abstract: Persistent bacterial infections of the gastrointestinal mucosa are causally linked to gastric carcinoma and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma in people and laboratory animals. We examined the relationship of mucosa-associated bacteria to alimentary lymphoma in cats. Intestinal biopsies from 50 cats with alimentary lymphoma (small cell, n = 33; large cell, n = 17) and 38 controls without lymphoma (normal to minimal change on histopathology, n = 18; lymphocytic-plasmacytic enteritis, n = 20) were evaluated. The number and spatial distribution of bacteria (ie, in luminal cellular debris, villus-associated mucus, adherent to epithelium, mucosal invasion, intravascular, or serosal) were determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization with the eubacterial probe EUB-338. Mucosa-invasive bacteria were more frequently observed in cats with large cell lymphoma (82%, P ≤ .001) than in cats with small cell lymphoma (18%), normal to minimal change on histopathology, and lymphocytic-plasmacytic enteritis (3%). Intravascular bacteria were observed solely in large cell lymphoma (29%), and serosal colonization was more common in cats with large cell lymphoma (57%) than with small cell lymphoma (11%, P ≤ .01), normal to minimal change (8%, P ≤ .01), and lymphocytic-plasmacytic enteritis (6%, P ≤ .001). The high frequency of invasive bacteria within blood vessels and serosa of cats with large cell lymphoma may account for the sepsis-related complications associated with large cell lymphoma and inform clinical management. Further studies are required to determine the role of intramucosal bacteria in the etiopathogenesis of feline alimentary lymphoma.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.|2 William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Hoehne
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: McDonough
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rishniw
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Simpson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D002415:Cats; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000382:microbiology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*
keywords: cats; chronic inflammation; fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH); inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); intestine; invasive bacteria; lymphoma; lymphoplasmacytic enteritis; microbiome; tumorigenesis