Study of pathogenesis and infection mechanism of feline morbillivirus

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K07719
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Veterinary medical science
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Furuya Tetsuya 東京農工大学, (連合)農学研究科(研究院), 准教授 (60647676)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): MAEDA Ken 山口大学, 共同獣医学部, 教授 (90284273) ; SHIROTA Kinji 麻布大学, 獣医学部, 教授 (70147974)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: ネコモルビリウイルス / ウイルス検査 / 病原性 / 慢性腎臓疾患 / 病理組織 / 免疫染色

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Feline morbillivirus is a new virus species discovered in 2012 and is potentially involved in chronic kidney disease in cats. We developed a real-time RT-PCR and anti-FeMV antibody detection systems, and demonstrated that positive rates of FeMV RNA in urines and anti-FeMV antibody in plasma samples from cats in Japan were 15.1 and 22 %, respectively. We studied association between FeMV and pathological lesions in cat kidney tissues from the ones with kidney diseases, using immunohistochemistry with the anti-FeMV antibody, and found a strong association between detection of FeMV antigen and tubular atrophy in the kidney tissues. Together with the finding that FeMV was localized only on renal tubular tissues, this study suggests strong association between FeMV infection and tubular nephritis in cats.

Free Research Field

ウイルス学