Chaphamaparvovirus Antigen and Nucleic Acids are not Detected in Kidney Tissues from Cats with Chronic Renal Disease or Immunosuppressive Diseases

Mouse Kidney Parvovirus (MKPV) was recently recognized as the cause of murine inclusion body nephropathy, a disease reported for over 40 years in laboratory mice. Immunodeficient mice are persistently infected with MKPV, leading to chronic renal disease, morbidity and mortality whereas immunocompetent mice seroconvert with mild renal pathology. Given the high incidence of MKPV infection in wild mice in the New York City area, the first goal of this study was to evaluate the possibility of MKPV involvement in feline chronic kidney disease (CKD) from the same geographic region. As MKPV and related parvoviruses recently described in other animal species appear to have a tropism for kidney tissue, the second goal was to investigate the possible role of a virus of this group, other than MKPV, in the development of feline CKD, Presence of MKPV and related viruses was investigated in feline renal samples using PCR, RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Cats were divided into three groups: normal (N=25), CKD (N=25) and immune suppressed (N=25). None of the kidney tissues from any of the 75 cats revealed the presence of MKPV DNA, RNA or antigen expression. Nor was “fechavirus” detected using PCR in renal tissue from cats with chronic kidney disease. We conclude that MKPV is an unlikely cause or contributor to feline CKD.