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Rudd JM, Tamil Selvan M, Cowan S, Kao YF, Midkiff CC, Narayanan S, Ramachandran A, Ritchey JW, Miller CA. Clinical and Histopathologic Features of a Feline SARS-CoV-2 Infection Model Are Analogous to Acute COVID-19 in Humans. Viruses 2021; 13:v13081550. [PMID: 34452415 PMCID: PMC8402899 DOI: 10.3390/v13081550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence and ensuing dominance of COVID-19 on the world stage has emphasized the urgency of efficient animal models for the development of therapeutics for and assessment of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Shortcomings of current animal models for SARS-CoV-2 include limited lower respiratory disease, divergence from clinical COVID-19 disease, and requirements for host genetic modifications to permit infection. In this study, n = 12 specific-pathogen-free domestic cats were infected intratracheally with SARS-CoV-2 to evaluate clinical disease, histopathologic lesions, and viral infection kinetics at 4 and 8 days post-inoculation; n = 6 sham-inoculated cats served as controls. Intratracheal inoculation of SARS-CoV-2 produced a significant degree of clinical disease (lethargy, fever, dyspnea, and dry cough) consistent with that observed in the early exudative phase of COVID-19. Pulmonary lesions such as diffuse alveolar damage, hyaline membrane formation, fibrin deposition, and proteinaceous exudates were also observed with SARS-CoV-2 infection, replicating lesions identified in people hospitalized with ARDS from COVID-19. A significant correlation was observed between the degree of clinical disease identified in infected cats and pulmonary lesions. Viral loads and ACE2 expression were also quantified in nasal turbinates, distal trachea, lungs, and other organs. Results of this study validate a feline model for SARS-CoV-2 infection that results in clinical disease and histopathologic lesions consistent with acute COVID-19 in humans, thus encouraging its use for future translational studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer M. Rudd
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA; (J.M.R.); (M.T.S.); (S.C.); (Y.-F.K.); (J.W.R.)
| | - Miruthula Tamil Selvan
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA; (J.M.R.); (M.T.S.); (S.C.); (Y.-F.K.); (J.W.R.)
| | - Shannon Cowan
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA; (J.M.R.); (M.T.S.); (S.C.); (Y.-F.K.); (J.W.R.)
| | - Yun-Fan Kao
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA; (J.M.R.); (M.T.S.); (S.C.); (Y.-F.K.); (J.W.R.)
| | - Cecily C. Midkiff
- Division of Comparative Pathology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA 70433, USA;
| | - Sai Narayanan
- Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA; (S.N.); (A.R.)
| | - Akhilesh Ramachandran
- Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA; (S.N.); (A.R.)
| | - Jerry W. Ritchey
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA; (J.M.R.); (M.T.S.); (S.C.); (Y.-F.K.); (J.W.R.)
| | - Craig A. Miller
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA; (J.M.R.); (M.T.S.); (S.C.); (Y.-F.K.); (J.W.R.)
- Correspondence:
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Rudd JM, Selvan MT, Cowan S, Kao YF, Midkiff CC, Ritchey JW, Miller CA. Clinicopathologic features of a feline SARS-CoV-2 infection model parallel acute COVID-19 in humans. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2021:2021.04.14.439863. [PMID: 33880467 PMCID: PMC8057232 DOI: 10.1101/2021.04.14.439863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The emergence and ensuing dominance of COVID-19 on the world stage has emphasized the urgency of efficient animal models for the development of therapeutics and assessment of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Shortcomings of current animal models for SARS-CoV-2 include limited lower respiratory disease, divergence from clinical COVID-19 disease, and requirements for host genetic modifications to permit infection. This study validates a feline model for SARS-CoV-2 infection that results in clinical disease and histopathologic lesions consistent with severe COVID-19 in humans. Intra-tracheal inoculation of concentrated SARS-CoV-2 caused infected cats to develop clinical disease consistent with that observed in the early exudative phase of COVID-19. A novel clinical scoring system for feline respiratory disease was developed and utilized, documenting a significant degree of lethargy, fever, dyspnea, and dry cough in infected cats. In addition, histopathologic pulmonary lesions such as diffuse alveolar damage, hyaline membrane formation, fibrin deposition, and proteinaceous exudates were observed due to SARS-CoV-2 infection, imitating lesions identified in people hospitalized with ARDS from COVID-19. A significant correlation exists between the degree of clinical disease identified in infected cats and pulmonary lesions. Viral loads and ACE2 expression were quantified in nasal turbinates, distal trachea, lung, and various other organs. Natural ACE2 expression, paired with clinicopathologic correlates between this feline model and human COVID-19, encourage use of this model for future translational studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer M. Rudd
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University; Stillwater, OK, USA
| | - Miruthula Tamil Selvan
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University; Stillwater, OK, USA
| | - Shannon Cowan
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University; Stillwater, OK, USA
| | - Yun-Fan Kao
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University; Stillwater, OK, USA
| | - Cecily C. Midkiff
- Division of Comparative Pathology, National Primate Research Center, Tulane University; Covington, LA, USA
| | - Jerry W. Ritchey
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University; Stillwater, OK, USA
| | - Craig A. Miller
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University; Stillwater, OK, USA
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Liu M, Eckersall PD, Mrljak V, Horvatić A, Guillemin N, Galan A, Köster L, French A. Novel biomarkers in cats with congestive heart failure due to primary cardiomyopathy. J Proteomics 2020; 226:103896. [PMID: 32652222 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2020.103896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Revised: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The pathogenesis of feline cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure (CHF) requires further understanding. In this study, we assessed serum proteome change in feline CHF, aiming to identify novel biomarker for both research and clinical use. The study comprised 15 cats in CHF, 5 cats in preclinical cardiomyopathy and 15 cats as healthy controls. Serum proteome profiles were obtained by tandem mass tag labelling followed by mass spectrometry. Protein concentrations in CHF cats were compared with healthy controls. Western blot was performed for proteomic validation. Correlations were assessed between the altered proteins in CHF and clinical variables in cats with cardiomyopathy to evaluate protein-cardiac association. Bioinformatic analysis was employed to identify pathophysiological pathways involved in feline CHF. Sixteen serum proteins were significantly different between CHF and healthy control cats (P < .05). These included serine protease inhibitors, apolipoproteins and other proteins associated with inflammation and coagulation. Clinical parameters from cats with cardiomyopathy significantly correlated with the altered proteins (P < .05). Bioinformatic analysis identified 13 most relevant functional profiles in feline CHF, which mostly associated with extracellular matrix organization and metabolism. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD017761. SIGNIFICANCE: Cardiomyopathies affect both cats and humans, and they can cause serious consequence such as congestive heart failure (CHF). To date, the pathophysiological mechanism of CHF is not fully understood. In this study, for the first time, we used a proteomic approach combined with bioinformatic analysis to evaluate serum protein change in cats with CHF. Results indicate systemic inflammation, coagulation protein changes, innate immunity and extracellular matrix remodeling are involved in feline CHF, which are largely comparable with findings in previous human studies. Our study provides new insights into CHF and cardiomyopathy in cats, and the identified novel biomarkers and pathophysiological pathways provide valuable information for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengmeng Liu
- Small Animal Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - P David Eckersall
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK; Laboratory for Proteomics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Vladimir Mrljak
- Laboratory for Proteomics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Anita Horvatić
- Laboratory for Proteomics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Nicolas Guillemin
- Laboratory for Proteomics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Asier Galan
- Laboratory for Proteomics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Liza Köster
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Anne French
- Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Basseterre, St Kitts & Nevis, West Indies.
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