scholarly journals Molecular detection and characterisation of Domestic Cat Hepadnavirus (DCH) from blood and liver tissues of cats in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khanmani Anpuanandam ◽  
Gayathri Thevi Selvarajah ◽  
Mandy Mun Kei Choy ◽  
Shing Wei Ng ◽  
Kiven Kumar ◽  
...  

Abstract Background A new domestic cat hepadnavirus (DCH, family Hepadnaviridae) was first reported from whole blood samples of domestic cats in Australia in 2018, and from cat serum samples in Italy in 2019. The pathogenesis of DCH is unknown, but it was reported in cats with viraemia (6.5–10.8%), chronic hepatitis (43%) and hepatocellular carcinoma (28%). Recent reports suggest that DCH resembles the human hepatitis B virus (HBV) and its related hepatopathies. This study aims to detect and characterize DCH among domestic cats in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was performed on 253 cats, of which 87 had paired blood and liver samples, entailing whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of DCH from a liver tissue sample. Results Among the 253 cats included in this study, 12.3% of the whole blood samples tested positive for DCH. The detection rate was significantly higher in pet cats (16.6%, n = 24/145) compared to shelter cats (6.5%, n = 7/108). Liver tissues showed higher a DCH detection rate (14.9%, n = 13/87) compared to blood; 5 out of these 13 cats tested positive for DCH in their paired liver and blood samples. Serum alanine transaminase (ALT) was elevated (> 95 units/L) in 12 out of the 23 DCH-positive cats (52.2%, p = 0.012). Whole-genome sequence analysis revealed that the Malaysian DCH strain, with a genome size of 3184 bp, had 98.3% and 97.5% nucleotide identities to the Australian and Italian strains, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the Malaysian DCH genome was clustered closely to the Australian strain, suggesting that they belong to the same geographically-determined genetic pool (Australasia). Conclusions This study provided insights into a Malaysian DCH strain that was detected from a liver tissue. Interestingly, pet cats or cats with elevated ALT were significantly more likely to be DCH positive. Cats with positive DCH detection from liver tissues may not necessarily have viraemia. The impact of this virus on inducing liver diseases in felines warrants further investigation.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romain Coppée ◽  
Atikatou Mama ◽  
Véronique Sarrasin ◽  
Claire Kamaliddin ◽  
Lucie Adoux ◽  
...  

Background: Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is becoming increasingly helpful to assist malaria control programs. A major drawback of this approach is the large amount of human DNA compared to parasite DNA extracted from unprocessed whole blood. As red blood cells (RBCs) have a diameter of about 7-8 μm and exhibit some deformability, we hypothesized that cheap and commercially available 5 μm filters might retain leukocytes but much less of Plasmodium falciparum-infected RBCs. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that such a filtration method, named 5WBF (for 5 μm Whole Blood Filtration), may provide highly enriched parasite material suitable for P. falciparum WGS. Methods: Whole blood was collected from five patients experiencing a P. falciparum malaria episode (ring-stage parasitemia range: 0.04-5.5%) and from mock samples obtained by mixing synchronized, ring-stage cultured P. falciparum 3D7 parasites with uninfected human whole blood (final parasitemia range: 0.02-1.1%). These whole blood samples (50 to 400 μL) were diluted in RPMI 1640 medium or PBS 1X buffer and filtered with syringes connected to a 5 μm commercial filter. DNA was extracted from filtered and unfiltered counterpart blood samples using a commercial kit. The 5WBF method was evaluated on the ratios of parasite:human DNA assessed by qPCR and by sequencing depth and percentages of coverage from WGS data (Illumina NextSeq 500). As a comparison, we also applied to the same unprocessed whole blood samples the selective whole-genome amplification (sWGA) method which does not rely on blood filtration. Results: After applying 5WBF, qPCR indicated an average of 2-fold loss in the amount of parasite template DNA (Pf ARN18S gene) and from 4,096- to 65,536-fold loss of human template DNA (human β actin gene). WGS analyses revealed that > 95% of the nuclear genome and the entire whole organellar genomes were covered at ≥ 10x depth for all samples tested. In sWGA counterparts, none of the organellar genomes were covered, and from 47.7 to 82.1% of the nuclear genome was covered at ≥ 10x depth depending on parasitemia. Sequence reads were homogeneously distributed across gene sequences for 5WBF-treated samples (n = 5,460 genes; mean coverage: 91x; median coverage: 93x; 5th percentile: 70x; 95th percentile: 103x), allowing the identification of gene copy number variations such as for gch1. This later analysis was not possible for sWGA-treated samples, as we observed a much more heterogeneous distribution of reads among gene sequences (mean coverage: 80x; median coverage: 51x; 5th percentile: 7x; 95th percentile: 245x. Conclusions: The novel 5WBF leucodepletion method is simple to implement and based on commercially available, standardized, 5 μm filters which cost from 1.0 to 1.7€ per unit, depending on suppliers. 5WBF permits extensive genome-wide analysis of P. falciparum DNA from minute amounts of whole blood even with parasitemias as low as 0.02%.


2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
N Shazi ◽  
A Böss ◽  
HJ Merkel ◽  
F Scharbert ◽  
D Hannak ◽  
...  

Separations ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Sevasti Karampela ◽  
Jessica Smith ◽  
Irene Panderi

An ever-increasing need exists within the forensic laboratories to develop analytical processes for the qualitative and quantitative determination of a broad spectrum of new psychoactive substances. Phenylethylamine derivatives are among the major classes of psychoactive substances available on the global market and include both amphetamine analogues and synthetic cathinones. In this work, an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-positive ion electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric method (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) has been developed and fully validated for the determination of 19 psychoactive substances, including nine amphetamine-type stimulants and 10 synthetic cathinone derivatives, in premortem and postmortem whole blood. The assay was based on the use of 1 mL premortem or postmortem whole blood, following solid phase extraction prior to the analysis. The separation was achieved on a Poroshell 120 EC-C18 analytical column with a gradient mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid in water in 9 min. The dynamic multiple reaction monitoring used in this work allowed for limit of detection (LOD) and lower limit of quantitation (LOQ) values of 0.5 and 2 ng mL−1, respectively, for all analytes both in premortem and postmortem whole blood samples. A quadratic calibration model was used for the 12 quantitative analytes over the concentration range of 20–2000 ng mL−1, and the method was shown to be precise and accurate both in premortem and postmortem whole blood. The method was applied to the analysis of real cases and proved to be a valuable tool in forensic and clinical toxicology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 100311
Author(s):  
Daniella C. Terenzi ◽  
Ehab Bakbak ◽  
Justin Z. Trac ◽  
Mohammad Al-Omran ◽  
Adrian Quan ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Polina A. Dyachenko Timoshina ◽  
Leonid E. Dolotov ◽  
Ekaterina N. Lazareva ◽  
Anastasiia A. Kozlova ◽  
Olga A. Inozemtseva ◽  
...  

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Shenberg ◽  
S. Spiegel ◽  
S. Chaitchik ◽  
P. Jordan ◽  
M. Kitzis ◽  
...  

1978 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 2135-2138 ◽  
Author(s):  
K W Jackson

Abstract Each of 65 laboratories analyzed 10 whole-blood samples for erythrocyte protoporphyrin by one or more of several analytical procedures. These procedures were of two types: (a) extraction of protoporphyrin from the erythrocytes into ethyl acetate/acetic acid, re-extraction into hydrochloric acid, and fluorometric measurement; or (b) direct reading in a portable fluorometer (hematofluorometer), with no pretreatment of the blood sample. Interlaboratory correlation was generally poor, especially between laboratories using extraction procedures. Hematofluorometric results intercorrelated better, but they had a low bias as compared to the extraction approach. Nationwide standardization of the test is required to assure satisfactory interlaboratory performance and to identify laboratories whose results are sufficiently accurate to be used for interpretations according to guidelines set forth by the Center for Disease Control for erythrocyte protoporphyrin testing.


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