Molecular and immunochromatographic tests comparison for Feline Viral Leukemia diagnosis

• Fredy Guillen-González Universidad Católica de Cuenca. Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador
• Manuel Maldonado-Cornejo Universidad Católica de Cuenca. Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador
• Edy Castillo-Hidalgo Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Health & Behavior HBr Group. Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5311-5002

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52973/rcfcv-e32127

Keywords: Feline lymphoma, PCR, pathologies, cats, Felis silvestris catus

Abstract

This investigation was carried out with the purpose of comparing molecular and immunochromatographic tests for the diagnosis of FeLV in Santo Domingo city, Ecuador. Fourty seven random adult cats,were studied and treated at the SERVET Veterinary Clinic without discriminate healthy or with pathological signs. A 0.75 mL blood sample was taken from the cephalic vein of each patient. For diagnosis by immunochromatography, the commercial FeLV-FIV test (SensPert, VetAll Laboratories, Korea) was used and the procedures recommended by the manufacturer were followed. Molecular tests were performed with the plasma of the samples, obtained by centrifugation. For the determination, a thermocycler equipment (Bioer LineGene 9600 Plus, China) was used. The prevalence of the disease was calculated adding each test results and the statistical comparisons were made through the McNemar test at a confidence level of 95 %. The age association was performed using the t-Student test at 95 % confidence and also respective correlation was established. For the diagnosis of FeLV, the molecular test was more reliable with a prevalence of 68.1 % against the 42.6 % derived from the immunochromatography test. The immunochromatography test underestimated a third of the population affected by FeVL. The disease showed a tendency to be more prevalent in adult cats. The comparison of prevalence according to age showed differences of 25.4 % in favor of the molecular test, with a correlation of 73 % between the results of both tests. In cases of vaccinated or dewormed felines, the immunochromatography test always underestimated the population infected by FeLV.

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