Proceeding of Veterinary and Animal Science Days 2017, 6th- 8th June, Milan, Italy 

HAF © 2013 

Vol. IV, No. 1s   ISSN: 2283-3927 

   

 

l 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keywords 

FIP, Feline Coronavirus, 

Microbiota analysis, Immunity 

 

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR 

Sara Meazzi 

sara.meazzi@unimi.it 

 

JOURNAL HOME PAGE 

riviste.unimi.it/index.php/haf 

The gut microbiota and mucosal defenses  

in cats with coronaviruses: a pilot study 

Sara Meazzi1*, Stefania Lauzi1,2, Angelica Stranieri1,  

Saverio Paltrinieri1,2, Alessia Giordano1,2 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1University of Milan, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Italy 

2University of Milan, Centro clinico-veterinario e zootecnico-sperimentale, Lodi, Italy  

 

 

Abstract 

Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) develops from a mutation of enteric feline coronaviruses (FCoVs) 

and an imbalance of the host immune response. The wide polymorphism of FCoVs is associated with 

the viral replication rate (Licitra et al. 2013).  Changes in the composition of the gut microbiota may 

induce quali-quantitative modifications in FCoVs and/or different immune profiles (Weese et al., 2015). 

Little information is available on feline gut microbiota and its relationship with systemic diseases 

(Ramadan et al., 2014).  

The aim of this study is to provide preliminary data about the composition of gut microbiota in healthy 

cats compared with FCoV infected cats (with and without FIP), in order to evaluate whether changes 

of gut microbiota may induce changes in FCoV, in its genetic polymorphism and in the mucosal 

immunity. 

Screening analyses have been performed on 22 cats:  

- Routine hematology and biochemistry on EDTA and serum (included electrophoresis and alpha-1-acid 

glycoprotein measurement for cats suspected with FIP) 

- Nested RT-PCR-3’UTR on frozen faeces 

- Effusion evaluation 

- FIV/FeLV serology 

Due to strict inclusion criteria (cats younger than 2.5 years old, indoor and not treated with antibiotics 

in the previous two months) and based on the results obtained from the complete set of analyses, 

only 15 cats - specifically 5 cats for each of the following 3 groups: FIP- affected, healthy negative and 

positive for FCoV - have been recruited to perform the following analyses on frozen faeces: 

 - microbiota analysis through NGS of 16S rRNA gene (V4 region) amplicons followed by bioinformatic 

analysis   

-  evaluation of secretory IgA (ELISA kit) 

- phylogenetic analysis of FCoVs S gene sequences  

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en


Proceeding of Veterinary and Animal Science Days 2017, 6th- 8th June, Milan, Italy 

HAF © 2013 

Vol. IV, No. 1s   ISSN: 2283-3927 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The differences among microbial communities will be compared and associated with the presence 

and genetic polymorphisms of FCoV and mucosal defenses to establish possible significant 

correlations among these factors and susceptibility to FIP. 

 

References 

Licitra B.N., Millet J.K., Regan A.D., Hamilton B.S., Rinaldi V.D., Duhamel G.E., Whittaker G.R., 2013. Mutation in Spike 

Protein Cleavage Site and Pathogenesis of Feline Coronavirus. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 19(7), 1066-1073 

Ramadan Z., Xu H., Laflamme D., Czarnecki-Maulden G., Li Q.J., Labuda J., Bourqui B., 2014. Fecal Microbiota of Cats 

with Naturally Occurring Chronic Diarrhea Assessed Using 16S rRNA Gene 454-Pyrosequencing before and after 

Dietary Treatment. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 28, 59-65 

Weese J.S., Nicholsb J., Jalalia M., Litsterb A., 2015. The rectal microbiota of cats infected with feline 

immunodeficiency virus infection and uninfected controls. Veterinary Microbiology. 180, 96-102 

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en