Ferri, Filippo; Ferro, Silvia; Porporato, Federico; Callegari, Carolina; Guglielmetti, Chiara; Mazza, Maria; Ferrero, Marta; Crinò, Chiara; Gallo, Enrico; Drigo, Michele; Coppola, Luigi Michele; Gerardi, Gabriele; Schulte, Tim Paul; Ricagno, Stefano; Vogel, Monique; Storni, Federico Lorenzo; Bachmann, Martin; Vogt, Anne-Cathrine; Caminito, Serena; Mazzini, Giulia; ... (2023). AA-amyloidosis in cats (Felis catus) housed in shelters. PLoS ONE, 18(3), e0281822. Public Library of Science 10.1371/journal.pone.0281822
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Systemic AA-amyloidosis is a protein-misfolding disease characterized by fibril deposition of serum amyloid-A protein (SAA) in several organs in humans and many animal species. Fibril deposits originate from abnormally high serum levels of SAA during chronic inflammation. A high prevalence of AA-amyloidosis has been reported in captive cheetahs and a horizontal transmission has been proposed. In domestic cats, AA-amyloidosis has been mainly described in predisposed breeds but only rarely reported in domestic short-hair cats. Aims of the study were to determine AA-amyloidosis prevalence in dead shelter cats. Liver, kidney, spleen and bile were collected at death in cats from 3 shelters. AA-amyloidosis was scored. Shedding of amyloid fibrils was investigated with western blot in bile and scored. Descriptive statistics were calculated. In the three shelters investigated, prevalence of AA-amyloidosis was 57.1% (16/28 cats), 73.0% (19/26) and 52.0% (13/25), respectively. In 72.9% of cats (35 in total) three organs were affected concurrently. Histopathology and immunofluorescence of post-mortem extracted deposits identified SAA as the major protein source. The duration of stay in the shelters was positively associated with a histological score of AA-amyloidosis (B = 0.026, CI95% = 0.007-0.046; p = 0.010). AA-amyloidosis was very frequent in shelter cats. Presence of SAA fragments in bile secretions raises the possibility of fecal-oral transmission of the disease. In conclusion, AA-amyloidosis was very frequent in shelter cats and those staying longer had more deposits. The cat may represent a natural model of AA-amyloidosis.
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