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. Overall design: 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