The effect of natural feline coronavirus infection on the host immune response: a whole-transcriptome analysis on the mesenteric lymph nodes of cats with and without feline infectious peritonitis

Purpose: Comparison of the effect on the host immune response of feline coronavirus infection with or without feline infectious peritonitis Results: FIP was associated with higher pro-inflammatory pathway enrichment; whilst non-FIP FCoV-positive cats showed lower enrichment of humoral immunity pathways, below that of uninfected cats in the case of immunoglobulin production pathways Conclusions: Reinforces host differences in disease susceptibility in addition to any viral factors, importance of cellular vs humoral response also highlighted. RNA was extracted from the MLN of cats with and without FIP, the latter divided also by the presence of FCoV infection in the MLN