PMC6739741_01
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP)-associated meningoencephalomyelitis. (a)
Spinal cord. The meninges are expanded by large numbers of plasma cells,
lymphocytes and macrophages (x 200, hematoxylin and eosin). (b)
Telencephalon, lateral ventricle. The choroid plexus is markedly expanded by
inflammation, which extends into the surrounding periventricular tissue (x
20, hematoxylin and eosin). (c) Mesencephalon. The mesencephalic aqueduct is
obliterated by inflammation, which extends in the adjacent tissue (x 200,
hematoxylin and eosin). (d) Rhombencephalon, fourth ventricle. Numerous
macrophages have a strong intracytoplasmic positive immunoreactive signal (x
40, FIP virus immunohistochemistry)
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The underlying white matter was multifocally vacuolated with numerous dilated myelin sheaths, digestion chambers and rare spheroids (Figure 1a). At the level of the lateral aperture, the choroid plexus was expanded by large numbers of plasma cells, lymphocytes and macrophages (Figure 1b). The ependyma lining the ventricular system was effaced by a similar inflammatory population, admixed with fibrin, edema and was also forming thick perivascular cuffs often disrupting the sub-ependymal parenchyma (Figure 1c). Immunohistochemistry revealed strong intracytoplasmic immunoreactivity within macrophages associated with the inflammation (Figure 1d).
Molecular analysis of the spike gene. A 156 base pair region of the feline
coronavirus (FCoV) spike protein gene is shown and represented in single
amino acid code, with variant residues from the central nervous system
sample colored and amino acid positions noted. The activation site between
the S1 and S2 domains (S1/S2) is indicated and boxed. Amino acid positions
are based on that for FCoV RM spike (Genbank accession #ACT10854.1) as a
prototype sequence. Sequences were analyzed using Geneious v. 10.1.2
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The sequence information obtained from this cat is shown in Figure 2.