Cutaneous mycoflora and CD4:CD8 ratio of cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus

Abstract

This study was designed to compare cutaneous mycoflora isolation and CD4+:CD8+ ratio in feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)-infected cats with that in FIV-uninfected cats. Sixty cats were examined. Twenty-five were FIV-infected cats and 35 were FIV-uninfected cats. All 60 cats were FeLV-negative. Fungi were speciated and immunophenotyping of peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes was performed. At least one fungal colony was isolated from 22/25 (88%) FIV-infected cats. Among the FIV-uninfected cats fungal colonies were recovered from 13/35 (37%) specimens. Dermatophytes were recovered from 2/25 (8%) FIV-infected cats (one Microsporum gypseum, one Microsporum canis) and 3/35 (8.5%) FIV-uninfected cats (M gypseum). Malassezia species was the most commonly isolated organism from both groups of cats (51.6%). Malassezia species was more commonly isolated from FIV-infected cats than FIV-uninfected cats (84% vs 28.6%). The CD4+ to CD8+ lymphocyte ratio for FIV-infected cats was significantly lower than the CD4+ to CD8+ ratio in the FIV-uninfected cats. The CD4+ to CD8+ lymphocyte ratio for FIV-infected cats with cutaneous overall fungal isolation was significantly lower than the CD4:CD8 lymphocyte ratio in the FIV-infected cats but without cutaneous fungal isolation. We can conclude that immunologic depletion due to retroviral infection might represent a risk factor to cutaneous fungal colonization in cats.

Interaction of FIV with Heterologous Microbes in the Feline AIDS Model

“…Their incidence depends on geographical regions, cat subpopulations (pet, indoor, stray, feral, free-roaming, etc. ), gender and age [11,12,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Incidence of other opportunistic microbes depends on endemic geographical areas and local vectors (e.g.…”

“…Both FIV and FeLV independently might predispose animals for toxoplasma infection [21]. In spite of similar clinical manifestations by FIV or FeLV, they might specifically predispose the host for different heterologous microbial pathogens: FIV predisposes to Leishmania [12,16], mycoplasma [25,27,33,35], fungal [26], FCoV [12] infections, while FeLVsensitises the organism to BH infection [36]. Others found that the rate of toxoplasma [16,30,32] or FCV [24] infections occur independently of FIV status.…”

“…It displays a prevalence of 1-8% worldwide [16,24,33,38], but in some geographical areas much higher prevalence of FeLV antigen has been detected (14.2% in Iran, [21], 24.5% in Thailand, [18], 26% in Portugal, [28]). In catteries its prevalence could be much lower or up to zero [17,26,30,32]. Its prevalence has been decreasing in most countries and is regarded as a less important deadly infectious agent in the last 20 years compared to FIV [19].…”

“…Humans and cats can be infected by several common fungal pathogens, such as Cryptococcus [22], Malassezia, Microsporum [26] and others [28]. Dermatophyte fungi were isolated in 29.4% from stray cats in Portugal [28].…”

Generalized dermatitis associated with Malassezia overgrowth in cats: A report of six cases in France

“…No predisposing disorders were identified and the histopathological changes were nonspecific. In cats, Malassezia overgrowth has since been associated with retroviral infections [8,9], paraneoplastic syndromes [10,11], thymoma [11,12], and diabetes mellitus [13,14]. In a retrospective study, Maudlin et al evaluated the presence and importance of Malassezia yeasts in feline skin biopsy specimens submitted for histopathological examination between January 1999 and November 2000 [11].…”