Urinary capillariosis in six dogs from Italy

Abstract

Canine urinary capillariosis is caused by the nematode Pearsonema plica. P. plica infection is seldomly detected in clinical practice mainly due to diagnostic limitations. This report describes six cases of urinary capillariosis in dogs from Italy. Recurrent cystitis was observed in one dog, whereas another patient was affected by glomerular amyloidosis. In the remaining animals, the infection was considered an incidental finding. Immature eggs of the parasite were observed with urine sediment examination in 3/6 patients. Increased awareness of the potential pathogenic role of P. plica and clinical disease presentation could help identify infected animals.

Pearsonema spp. (Family Capillariidae, Order Enoplida) Infection in Domestic Carnivores in Central–Northern Italy and in a Red Fox Population from Central Italy

“…However, a third urinary capillariid species, namely Capillaria travassoi, has been reported in domestic felids in North America, but it is still not clear whether P. feliscati and C. travassoi should be considered distinct species or the same species [3]. Adults of these capillariids reside in the urinary bladder and, more rarely, in the ureters and renal pelvis of domestic and wild carnivores, in which they may be responsible for urinary capillariosis [4][5][6][7][8]. The host spectrum of P. plica includes wild and domestic canids and felids, while P. feliscati only infects felids [3,9,10].…”

Urinary capillariosis in dogs

“…Pathohistological examination showed chronic interstitial nephritis and glomerular amyloidosis, with chronic inflammation of the urinary bladder and renal pelvis, and with mononuclear cells infiltrating the submucosa (Callegari et al, 2010). Mariacher et al (2016) found disseminated fields of tubular necrosis.…”

“…After manifestations of oliguria and dysuria, some symptomatically similar diseases should be excluded, such as acute and chronic renal insufficiency, urolithiasis, prostate hyperplasia, feline urological syndrome (FUS), cystitis with other aetiology (for example bacteriological) etc. Mariacher et al (2016) pointed out the importance of urinary capillariosis in differential diagnosis of chronic and recurrent diseases of the lower urinary tract and kidneys.…”

“…In infected dogs, ultrasound examination can show a hyperechoic and thickened urinary bladder wall, and endoscopy of the urinary bladder can detect parasites fixated to mucosa (Basso et al, 2014). However, for correct diagnosis and urinary capillariosis monitoring, techniques with higher sensitivity will need to be developed and adopted in the future (Mariacher et al, 2016).…”

“…Increased urbanization has also caused spread of city areas to locations that were erstwhile fox habitat (Ilić et al, 2016c). Fox juxtaposition with urban areas is now more frequent in many European countries (Sréter et al, 2003), and this has enabled their closer contact with dogs and increased the probability of C. plica infection in domestic carnivores (Mariacher et al, 2016).…”