Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolysis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Puppies of breed Chartreux are with Devon Rex and British Shorthair most at risk of pups FNI.

As neonatal isoerythrolysis (abbreviated FNI , in the English language also fading kitten syndrome ) is called in veterinary medicine , the dissolution of red blood cells in kittens after birth and taking first milk .

The cause is a blood group incompatibility between the mother cat and her pups from the time of birth. This can occur if the male has blood group A and the cat has blood group B during the previous mating . Puppies out of this pairing take on antibodies from the mother against red blood cells of blood group A after birth with their first milk . In puppies with blood group A this leads to anemia and the excretion of the red blood pigment ( hemoglobin ) in the urine ( hemoglobinuria ). Due to the severity of the symptoms of the disease, the course of an acute FNI is often fatal for the puppies.

Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolysis occurs in cat breeds in different frequencies according to the distribution of blood groups A, B and C. The highest predisposition for FNI with 44% shows the cat breed Chartreux (Carthusian). In other cat breeds, such as the Siamese , this disease does not occur due to the presence of only one blood group (only A). In pedigree cat breeding, FNI can in principle be avoided in the case of affected cat breeds by knowing the blood groups of the breeding animals and observing them when mating cat and tom.

Blood group distribution in cats

Blood types in cats
blood type Combinations
( genotype )
A. A / A, A / C, A / b
C. a / C + a / C, a / C + aC / b
B. bb
Frequency of blood group B in cat breeds
Cat breed Frequency of blood
group B (in%)
Chartreux (Carthusians) approx. 44
Devon Rex approx. 43
British shorthair about 40
Holy Burma approx. 22
Abyssinian 20th
Ragdoll approx. 16
Persian approx. 11
European Shorthair (domestic cat) approx. 9
Maine Coon <5
Norwegian forest cat <5
Manx <5

Cats have one of three different blood groups, which have been named according to an AB blood group system since 1981. In this feline blood group system, which is not related to the human AB0 blood group system , the three blood groups are referred to as A, B and C. The blood groups A and B are formed at one location in the genome ( gene locus ) via blood group-specific alleles . Blood group C is called AB in the older literature, but it is not a simple combination of A and B. It occurs very rarely and has so far only been found in cat breeds in which blood group B also occurs. The blood groups differ in the amount of neuraminic acids on the surface of the red blood cells. With blood group A it is N-glycolyl-neuraminic acid, with B it is N-acetyl-neuraminic acid, with C it is both.

Like all higher animals, cats are diploid , so each gene locus is present twice. The blood group is inherited according to Mendel's rules . The characteristics of the gene for blood group A are dominant to those of blood groups B and C, blood group C in turn dominant to blood group B. Blood group B is recessive . Correspondingly, in male and female cats, blood groups A and C can be homozygous or mixed blood groups, while blood group B is always homozygous. If a cat is genetically hereditary for blood group A (both loci contain the gene for blood group A), this is referred to in genetics as a genotype with the abbreviation AA . If there is a mixed blood group A ( A ) and the cat also has a gene for blood group B ( b ), the genetic designation is Ab . This mixed-breed cat has blood group A because the corresponding gene is dominant, but at the same time carries a recessive gene for blood group B in its genetic material. The genotype Starting with the genetic material of blood groups A and B must not with the third blood type C be confused.

The distribution and combination of the individual blood groups depend on the breed of the cat and the geographic origin of the animals. The European house cat (European Shorthair cat, EKH) has 94.1% of blood group A and 5.9% of blood group B, according to studies by Haarer and Grünbaum. The proportion of domestic cats with blood group C was below 1.0%. This percentage ratio of blood groups A to B with a clear numerical preponderance of blood group A could also be confirmed in further studies. Various studies also show a geographically independent and very low percentage of C cats in the total proportion of the respective cat population examined.

With the cat breeds, the individual breeds can be divided into two groups. A group in which, for example, all “oriental” cat breeds such as Siamese cats , oriental shorthaired cats , Balinese and also Turkish Angora are represented, has blood group A as the only blood group. The second group, which includes Persian cats , British shorthairs , Abyssinian cats and numerous other shorthair breeds, also has blood groups B and C in different percentages.

Creation of FNI

The genetic basis for the disease of puppies with FNI arises when a cat with blood group B (genotype bb ) is mated with a tomcat of blood group A. If the tomcat is genetically for blood group A ( AA ), all offspring have blood group A ( Genotype Ab ). When breeding a heterozygous hangover from the homozygous for B she-cat bb , Ab × bb , produced an average of 50% offspring with blood type A. The other half has, according to the rules of Mendelian inheritance, the blood group B (genotype bb ) and can easily absorb the mother's first milk. Only puppies with blood group A are at risk of FNI.

The constellation of a mother with blood group B and newborn puppies with blood group A or C is problematic due to the isoantibodies (also called alloantibodies) present in the mother . These are antibodies circulating in the blood that did not result from an immune reaction . It has been known since Holmes' studies in 1950 that cats have antibodies that act against the blood group antigen that the cat does not have. A dam with blood group B thus has antibodies against blood group A antigen (anti-A isoantibodies), which cause severe damage to the erythrocytes in the puppies (with blood group A or C) after ingestion through the first milk. Research by Haarer in Germany showed that 92.7% of cats with blood group B had anti-A isoantibodies, while 46.9% of cats with blood group A had anti-B isoantibodies. According to Giger et al. However, only the strong anti-A isoantibodies of queens with blood group B are responsible for the outbreak of FNI.

Course and symptoms

There is no danger to the fetuses of blood groups A and C during the gestation period . This is due to the low permeability of the placenta endotheliochorialis occurring in cats , which in the prenatal stage only allows a very small and harmless amount of antibodies of 5–10%. The same applies to the newborn puppies up to the time of the first ingestion of colostrum by the mother, i.e. the time when the puppies ingest breast milk through suckling. With the uptake of anti-A isoantibodies from the mother via the colostrum, the puppies experience a timely immune reaction. How strong this is depends on the level of the isoantibody titer of the mother and the amount of breast milk consumed by the puppies. The uptake of isoantibodies takes place in the puppies through the intestinal wall and is only possible within the first 16 hours of life.

In feline neonatal isoerythrolysis, a distinction is made between a peracute, acute and subclinical course. In the peracute course, acute hemolytic anemia occurs in the first two days of life . The puppies die very quickly, usually on the first day. In the acute variant of the FNI, the puppies show weakness, weight loss and general developmental disorders. Due to the decomposition of the erythrocytes, serious diseases such as anemia or jaundice as well as other concomitant diseases occur . As a result of the breakdown of red blood cells, hemoglobinemia , the presence of free hemoglobin in the blood, occurs and later hemoglobinuria , the excretion of hemoglobin in the urine. Jaundice in puppies is often accompanied by bilirubinemia (the presence of free bilirubin in the blood serum ) and bilirubinuria (excretion of bilirubin in the urine ). In the rarer subclinical course of FNI, necrosis of the tail tips can occur in the second week of life due to clumping of the red blood cells and blood emptiness . Silvestre-Ferreira and Pastor also report on FNI cases that lead to death after a few hours without symptoms, and name dark red-brown urine as a key symptom of FNI disease.

Treatment and Avoidance

If an outbreak of FNI occurs due to the intake of first milk by endangered puppies with blood group A or C, the severity of the symptoms depends on the level of the mother's isoantibody titre and the amount of breast milk consumed by the puppies. As soon as the first concrete suspicions for FNI show up, the affected puppies must be prevented from taking their first milk immediately in order to keep the amount of isoantibodies in the puppy's organism as low as possible. If the puppies have the first symptoms of anemia, a transfusion with anti-A isoantibody-free packed red blood cells can be used for treatment. This may have to be repeated several times due to the short lifespan of the red blood cells. Due to the rapid development of the disease and the secondary diseases, further treatment of puppies with FNI is rarely possible.

Avoiding FNI is therefore much more important. In general, in pedigree cat breeding, mating a male (blood group A) with a cat (blood group B) can be avoided in the case of cat breeds that are at risk. This requires a previous blood group determination. A number of different commercial blood test methods are now available for this purpose, for example a blood group test based on the interaction of freeze-dried antisera with the particulate antigen ( RapidVet-H Feline from Italy). After a research group at the University of California, Davis , identified the gene for blood group B, molecular biological test methods are also available for almost all of the cat breeds in question . Blood sampling is no longer necessary to take samples, the DNA material of the cat required for testing is obtained via an oral cavity swab.

Another possibility is to determine the blood group in the fetuses or in the newborn puppies using umbilical cord blood . The former is medically possible, but is not often used in practice. The test with the help of the umbilical cord blood is more practicable in newborn puppies. This can be used to determine which puppies have blood groups A and C. These must be separated from the mother for at least 16 hours and suckled with substitute milk or the first milk of a blood group A cat. After this period, the anti-A isoantibodies can no longer be absorbed through the intestinal wall of the puppies, and these puppies can now be suckled by the mother without any problems.

Neonatal isoerythrolysis in other species

The problem of neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI) due to the intolerance of different blood groups does not only occur in cats. In humans, due to the different placenta type, a similar clinical picture usually develops in the womb and is known as Morbus haemolyticus neonatorum . The cause here is mostly a rhesus incompatibility .

NI can also occur in horses and cattle . When it comes to horse breeds, thoroughbred breeds and American Standardbred (American trotters) are particularly affected, with around 18% of the mares of these breeds showing genetic susceptibility. In dogs usually it does not lead to neonatal Isoerythrolyse, but there are documented cases as a result of transfusion reactions .

literature

  • Michael Streicher: Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolysis. In: Kleintiermedizin Issue 9 / 10-2009, pp. 212–214 (online as PDF file ).
  • Ana C. Silvestre-Ferreira, Josep Pastor: Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolysis and the Importance of Feline Blood Types . In: Veterinary Medicine International . tape 2010 , 2010, ISSN  2042-0048 , doi : 10.4061 / 2010/753726 , PMC 2899707 (free full text).
  • Urs Giger, J. Bücheler, MB Callan, Margret Casal, M. Griot-Wenk: Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolysis and Transfusion Reactions. In: Kleintiermedizin Edition 38/1993, pp. 715–720.
  • Marian C. Horzinek, Vera Schmidt, Hans Lutz (Ed.): Diseases of the cat . 4th, revised edition. Enke Verlag , Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8304-1049-2 .
  • Jacquie Rand: Practical Guide to Cat Diseases: Symptom-Based Diagnosis and Therapy. Elsevier Urban & Fischer Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-0-7020-2488-7 .

Web links

  • FU Berlin: Dissertations online - Christiane Weingart: Blood transfusion in cats: indications, implementation, transfusion reactions and results (1998–2001). (Dissertation, available online)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christiane Weingart: Blood transfusion in cats: indications, implementation, transfusion reactions and results.
  2. ↑ Information refers to Abyssinians in the USA, as there are geographical differences. See also: Alex Gough, Alison Thomas: Breed Dispositions in Dog and Cat.
  3. ^ L. Auer, K. Bell: The AB blood group system of cats. Animal Blood Groups and Biochemical Genetics, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 287-297, August 1981.
  4. ↑ a b c Laboklin aktuell, issue 03 2018.
  5. ↑ Michael J. Day: Atlas of clinical immunology in dogs and cats. Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Hanover 2005, ISBN 978-3-87706-630-0 , p. 84
  6. ↑ Laboklin aktuell: Blood groups in cats , Info 1/2002, PDF online ( Memento from December 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ a b c Michael Streicher: Feline Neonatale Isoerythrolyse. In: Kleintiermedizin Issue 9 / 10-2009, p. 212.
  8. ↑ a b M. Haarer, Grünbaum: Blood group serological tests in cats in Germany. Kleintierpraxis 38, 1993. pp. 195-204.
  9. ↑ Christiane Weingart: Blood transfusion in cats: indications, implementation, transfusion reactions and results. P. 13
  10. ↑ R. Holmes: The occurance of blood groups in cats. J. Exp. Biol. 30, 1950. pp. 350-357.
  11. ↑ Urs Giger, J. Bücheler, MB Callan, Margret Casal, M. Griot-Wenk: Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolysis and Transfusion Reactions. In: Kleintiermedizin issue 38/1993, p. 716
  12. ^ Ana C. Silvestre-Ferreira, Josep Pastor: Feline neonatal isoerythrolysis and the importance of feline blood types. Chapter 3
  13. ↑ Christiane Weigand: Blood transfusion in cats: indications, implementation, transfusion reactions and results (1998–2001). Diss. FU Berlin 2003.
  14. ↑ Christiane Weigand: Blood transfusion in cats: indications, implementation, transfusion reactions and results (1998–2001). Diss. FU Berlin 2003, p. 16.
  15. ↑ ML Casal, PF Jezyk, U. Giger: Transfer of colostral antibodies from queens to their kittens. At the. J, Vet. Res. 57, 1996. pp. 1653-1658.
  16. ↑ Jacquie Rand: Practical Guide to Cat Diseases: Symptom-Based Diagnosis and Therapy.
  17. ^ A b Christiane Weigand: Blood transfusion in cats: indications, implementation, transfusion reactions and results (1998–2001). Diss. FU Berlin 2003, p. 17.
  18. ^ Ana C. Silvestre-Ferreira, Josep Pastor: Feline neonatal isoerythrolysis and the importance of feline blood types. Chapter 4.
  19. ↑ a b Ana C. Silvestre-Ferreira, Josep Pastor: Feline neonatal isoerythrolysis and the importance of feline blood types. Chapter 5
  20. ↑ Olof Dietz, Lutz-Ferdinand Litzke: Textbook of general surgery for veterinarians. 6th revised edition, Enke, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8304-1000-X , p. 81
  21. ↑ Michael Streicher: Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolyse. In: Kleintiermedizin Issue 9 / 10-2009, p. 213
  22. ^ Derek C. Knottenbelt, Nicola Holdstock, John Madigan: Neonatologie der Pferde. Elsevier, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-437-57490-6 , p. 248 ff.
  23. ^ Hans Georg Nobody: Internship at the dog clinic. 10th revised and expanded edition, Parey, Singhofen 2006, ISBN 3-8304-4141-X , p. 595
  24. ↑ Reinhard Mischke: Practical hematology in dogs and cats. Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Hanover 2003, ISBN 3-87706-716-6 , p. 48.

Remarks

  1. ↑ A dominance of the characteristic in the context of inheritance is always marked with a capital letter, here for example A / A. If a trait is recessive in inheritance, this is indicated by the use of lowercase letters such as bb for blood group B.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on June 14, 2011 in this version .