| Abstrakt: |
Feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) generally causes asymptomatic infection to mild diarrhoea in multi-cat household, but sporadically may develop into the highly fatal feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). The route of transmission of FECV is via faecal-oral route through sharing of litter boxes. The aim of this study was to investigate the viral inhibitory effect of commercial cat litters available in Malaysia against Feline Coronavirus (FCoV) in vitro. A total of six types of cat litters were chosen based on their availability in 10 pet shops surveyed within Klang Valley, Malaysia. To determine the viral inhibitory effect of the cat litters such as wood pellet, kenaf, bentonite, silica, tofu or non-clumping clay, these cat litters were mixed with FIPV 79-1146 strain, incubated for 2 hours at 37°C with 5% CO2 and the supernatants were filtered and inoculated into 24-well plates of Crandell Rees feline kidney (CRFK) cells. Cytopathic effects (CPE) were observed after 48 hours. Median tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) was used to determine the viral titre using Spearman-Karber method. Statistical analysis using Kruskal-Wallis test comparing the different cat litters revealed a significant viral inhibitory effect against FCoV of which significant results were observed among wood pellet, kenaf and bentonite versus FCoV-untreated controls. However, only wood pellet managed to completely inhibit virus infection in cell culture, while the other five cat litters reduced virus load to varying extent from 2-fold to 6-fold reduction. In conclusion, wood pellet, kenaf and bentonite successfully inhibited FIP virus growth in CRFK cells presumably by adsorbing virus and binding the virions. Future in vivo study needs to be done to test the inhibitory effects of the cat litters in natural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
