Original article: EC22-005: Acute phase protein and micro-RNA signatures for the diagnosis and prognosis of feline infectious peritonitis.
Feline coronaviruses (FCoV) are found in the intestines of most domestic cats and usually do not cause any problems. Unfortunately, under certain circumstances, they can move into the immune cells in the blood and mutate, causing feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Unfortunately, the FIP affects 5-10 % domestic cats, especially young breeding cats and cats in rescue centers. Until recently, she was always deadly.
FIP is a mysterious and dreaded disease; in addition to the fact that its cause is not sufficiently known, it is difficult to reliably diagnose it and, until recently, it has responded poorly to all treatments. However, COVID-19 has resulted in the development of Remdesivir and its co-drug GS-441524, and these drugs appear to be remarkably effective and have, in preliminary studies, cured> 70 % cats with FIP after 12 weeks of treatment. Unambiguous diagnosis is becoming increasingly important nowadays.
Accurate diagnosis has long been a holy grail for FIP research: our goal is to i) examine the profile of certain proteins in the blood (known as acute phase or APP proteins) that increase in response to infection ii) while focusing for the first time on the potential role of micro -RNA (miRNA) signatures, which could prove successful in a new and sensitive diagnostic test.
We hope that this study will allow us to better understand FIP and diagnose it more accurately. We also hope to be able to identify which profiles suggest that the cat will respond well to treatment and which will not, thus saving it from the suffering associated with FIP and the potential inconveniences associated with treatment that will not help it.
(Bria Fund)
Grant ID: EC22-005
Status: Active
Year: 2022
Grant amount: $7,500
Investigator: Professor Danielle Gunn-Moore (DGM), BSc (Hon), BVM & S, PhD, MANZCVS, FHEA, FRSB, FRCVS, RCVS Specialist in Feline Medicine; The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh
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