Experimental infection of specific pathogen free (SPF) cats with two different strains of bartonella henselae type I: a comparative study.

Domestic cats are the reservoir of Bartonella henselae, the main causative agent of cat scratch disease. We compared B. henselae type I infection characteristics in 6 SPF cats infected with a feline strain (4.8 x 10(7) colony-forming units (CFU)/mL) and in 6 SPF cats infected with the reference Houston I strain (6.6 x 10(6) CFU/mL to 9.6 x 10(7) /mL). All the cats inoculated with the feline strain, but none of the cats inoculated with B. henselae Houston I, developed a fever within 2-12 days (mean: 5.8 days) post inoculation (PI), which lasted for 1-2 weeks. However, all 12 cats became bacteremic. The duration of bacteremia was significantly longer in the cats inoculated with the feline strain (mean: 237 days) than in the cats inoculated with Houston I strain (mean: 60 days) (p < 0.01). Five (83%) cats inoculated with the feline strain and none of the six cats inoculated with B. henselae Houston I had relapsing bacteremia (p = 0.02). IgG antibodies were detected by IFA within 1-2 weeks for both strains, but peaked later (week 10 versus week 3 PI) for the feline strain. By ELISA, using antigens of each B. henselae strain, all 12 cats developed Bartonella specific IgM and IgG antibodies, but the cats infected with B. henselae Houston I antigen yielded significantly lower optical density values (p < 0.05). By SDS-PAGE, PFGE and Western blotting, protein profile differences (84 to 89% homology) were observed between the two strains. If a feline vaccine is to be developed in order to prevent human infection, the choice of the vaccine strain will be critical, since major differences were identified even between strains belonging to the same sero/genotype.

[1]  B. Chomel,et al.  Prevalence of Bartonella infection in domestic cats in Denmark. , 2002, Veterinary research.

[2]  M. Mielke,et al.  Bartonella henselae-Specific Cell-Mediated Immune Responses Display a Predominantly Th1 Phenotype in Experimentally Infected C57BL/6 Mice , 2001, Infection and Immunity.

[3]  B. Chomel,et al.  Kinetics of Bartonella birtlesii Infection in Experimentally Infected Mice and Pathogenic Effect on Reproductive Functions , 2001, Infection and Immunity.

[4]  N. Suttorp,et al.  Bartonella henselae Induces NF-κB-Dependent Upregulation of Adhesion Molecules in Cultured Human Endothelial Cells: Possible Role of Outer Membrane Proteins as Pathogenic Factors , 2001, Infection and Immunity.

[5]  R. Berner,et al.  Serodiagnosis of Cat Scratch Disease: Response to Bartonella henselae in Children and a Review of Diagnostic Methods , 2001, European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

[6]  B. Chomel,et al.  Epidemiology of Bartonella infection in domestic cats in France. , 2001, Veterinary microbiology.

[7]  B. Chomel,et al.  Genomic diversity of Bartonella henselae isolates from domestic cats from Japan, the USA and France by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. , 2001, Veterinary microbiology.

[8]  D. Scholl,et al.  Passive Antibody to Bartonella henselae Protects against Clinical Disease following Homologous Challenge but Does Not Prevent Bacteremia in Cats , 2001, Infection and Immunity.

[9]  H. Hahn,et al.  Genetic Variability and Prevalence ofBartonella henselae in Cats in Berlin, Germany, and Analysis of Its Genetic Relatedness to a Strain from Berlin That Is Pathogenic for Humans , 2001, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[10]  E. Breitschwerdt,et al.  Coyotes (Canis latrans) as the Reservoir for a Human Pathogenic Bartonella sp.: Molecular Epidemiology ofBartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii Infection in Coyotes from Central Coastal California , 2000, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[11]  E. Breitschwerdt,et al.  Bartonella Infection in Animals: Carriership, Reservoir Potential, Pathogenicity, and Zoonotic Potential for Human Infection , 2000, Clinical Microbiology Reviews.

[12]  M. Mikolajczyk,et al.  Clinical disease in kittens inoculated with a pathogenic strain of Bartonella henselae. , 2000, American journal of veterinary research.

[13]  B. Chomel.  Cat-scratch disease. , 2000, Revue scientifique et technique.

[14]  S. Maruyama,et al.  Prevalence of Bartonella henselae, Bartonella clarridgeiae and the 16S rRNA gene types of Bartonella henselae among pet cats in Japan. , 2000, The Journal of veterinary medical science.

[15]  D. Raoult,et al.  Species-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies for Rapid Identification of Bartonella quintana , 2000, Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology.

[16]  L. Glickman,et al.  Immune response of neonatal specific pathogen-free cats to experimental infection with Bartonella henselae. , 1999, Veterinary immunology and immunopathology.

[17]  D. Scholl,et al.  Identification of Bartonella-Specific Immunodominant Antigens Recognized by the Feline Humoral Immune System , 1999, Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology.

[18]  L. Foil,et al.  Acute Clinical Disease in Cats following Infection with a Pathogenic Strain of Bartonella henselae(LSU16) , 1999, Infection and Immunity.

[19]  B. Chomel,et al.  Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae infection in domestic cats from The Philippines. , 1999, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene.

[20]  C. Dinarello.  Cytokines as endogenous pyrogens. , 1999, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[21]  T. Brown,et al.  Clinical and pathologic evaluation of chronic Bartonella henselae or Bartonella clarridgeiae infection in cats. , 1999, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[22]  N. Pedersen,et al.  Homologous protection but lack of heterologous-protection by various species and types of Bartonella in specific pathogen-free cats. , 1998, Veterinary immunology and immunopathology.

[23]  L. Glickman,et al.  Evidence of reproductive failure and lack of perinatal transmission of Bartonella henselae in experimentally infected cats. , 1998, Veterinary immunology and immunopathology.

[24]  S. Bereswill,et al.  Comparison of Different DNA Fingerprinting Techniques for Molecular Typing of Bartonella henselaeIsolates , 1998, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[25]  L. Foil,et al.  Experimental infection of domestic cats with Bartonella henselae by inoculation of Ctenocephalides felis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) feces. , 1998, Journal of medical entomology.

[26]  F. Coceani,et al.  Formation of interleukin-6 in the brain of the febrile cat: relationship to interleukin-1 , 1998, Brain Research.

[27]  E. Breitschwerdt,et al.  Persistent infection of pets within a household with three Bartonella species. , 1998, Emerging infectious diseases.

[28]  I. Schwab,et al.  Bartonella henselae neuroretinitis in cat scratch disease. Diagnosis, management, and sequelae. , 1998, Ophthalmology.

[29]  D. Relman.  Are all Bartonella henselae strains created equal? , 1998, Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

[30]  A. Sander,et al.  Two different genotypes of Bartonella henselae in children with cat-scratch disease and their pet cats. , 1998, Scandinavian journal of infectious diseases.

[31]  E. Breitschwerdt,et al.  Efficacy of enrofloxacin or doxycycline for treatment of Bartonella henselae or Bartonella clarridgeiae infection in cats , 1997, Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy.

[32]  L. Schouls,et al.  Prevalence of Bartonella species in domestic cats in The Netherlands , 1997, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[33]  B. Chomel,et al.  Coinfection with Bartonella clarridgeiae and Bartonella henselae and with different Bartonella henselae strains in domestic cats , 1997, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[34]  L. Glickman,et al.  Experimental infection of young specific pathogen-free cats with Bartonella henselae. , 1997, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[35]  M. Artois,et al.  Prevalence of Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae in stray cats , 1997, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[36]  E. Breitschwerdt,et al.  Relapsing bacteremia after blood transmission of Bartonella henselae to cats. , 1997, American journal of veterinary research.

[37]  B. Anderson,et al.  Bartonella spp. as emerging human pathogens , 1997, Clinical microbiology reviews.

[38]  K. Pelz,et al.  Detection and identification of two Bartonella henselae variants in domestic cats in Germany , 1997, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[39]  N. Pedersen,et al.  Experimental and natural infection with Bartonella henselae in domestic cats. , 1997, Comparative immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases.

[40]  J. Olson,et al.  Experimentally induced Bartonella henselae infections followed by challenge exposure and antimicrobial therapy in cats. , 1996, American journal of veterinary research.

[41]  N. Pedersen,et al.  Experimental transmission of Bartonella henselae by the cat flea , 1996, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[42]  C. Greene,et al.  Bartonella henselae infection in cats: evaluation during primary infection, treatment, and rechallenge infection , 1996, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[43]  A. Azad,et al.  Acquisition of the cat scratch disease agent Bartonella henselae by cat fleas (Siphonaptera:Pulicidae). , 1996, Journal of medical entomology.

[44]  D. Raoult,et al.  New serotype of Bartonella heriselae in endocarditis and cat-scratch disease , 1996, The Lancet.

[45]  J. V. van Embden,et al.  Predominance of two Bartonella henselae variants among cat-scratch disease patients in the Netherlands , 1996, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[46]  S. Falkow,et al.  Bartonella henselae and Bartonella quintana adherence to and entry into cultured human epithelial cells , 1995, Infection and immunity.

[47]  N. Pedersen,et al.  Bartonella henselae prevalence in domestic cats in California: risk factors and association between bacteremia and antibody titers , 1995, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[48]  M. Dolan,et al.  Neuroretinitis, aseptic meningitis, and lymphadenitis associated with Bartonella (Rochalimaea) henselae infection in immunocompetent patients and patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1. , 1995, Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

[49]  D. Raoult,et al.  Inter- and intraspecies identification of Bartonella (Rochalimaea) species , 1995, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[50]  J. Childs,et al.  Epidemiologic observations on infection with Rochalimaea species among cats living in Baltimore, Md. , 1994, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

[51]  J. Tappero,et al.  Rochalimaea henselae infection. A new zoonosis with the domestic cat as reservoir. , 1994, JAMA.

[52]  R. Regnery,et al.  Naturally occurring "Rochalimaea henselae" infection in domestic cat , 1992, The Lancet.

[53]  B. Anderson,et al.  Characterization of a novel Rochalimaea species, R. henselae sp. nov., isolated from blood of a febrile, human immunodeficiency virus-positive patient , 1992, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[54]  D. Welch,et al.  A newly recognized fastidious gram-negative pathogen as a cause of fever and bacteremia. , 1990, The New England journal of medicine.

[55]  D. Raoult,et al.  Current Knowledge of Bartonella Species , 2022 .