Cyclic CD8+ lymphopenia in dogs experimentally infected with Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii |
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Authors: | Pappalardo B L Brown T Gebhardt D Sontakke S Breitschwerdt E B |
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Institution: | Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA. |
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Abstract: | Until recently, it was presumed that Bartonella vinsonii only infected voles, a species of North American rodents. In April of 1993, however, our laboratory isolated a novel subspecies of B. vinsonii (B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii) from the blood of a dog diagnosed with vegetative valvular endocarditis. Subsequently, based on a seroepidemiologic survey of dogs from North Carolina and Virginia presenting for a variety of medical problems, we found evidence supporting a potentially important association between B. vinsonii and Ehrlichia canis co-infection in dogs. In the following study, eight dogs were infected with B. vinsonii: four specific pathogen free dogs and four dogs that had previously been infected with E. canis. Flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes revealed a cyclic elevation of the CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio that correlated with cyclic CD8+ lymphopenia in all dogs infected with B. vinsonii, regardless of prior exposure to E. canis. |
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