The application of infrared and Raman spectroscopic techniques to the analysis of urinary calculi is reviewed and their relative efficiency and adaptability to routine analysis are discussed. Using the classification of urinary calculi based on their main constituents, infrared and Raman spectra of calcium oxalates, phosphates, uric acid, urates, and cystine are reported. Some characteristic bands are suggested as useful for analytical purposes. References to other constituents such as drugs are included. Although this review is aimed principally at human stones, it also extends to literature references dealing with urinary calculi from canine, feline, and equine animal species. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biospectroscopy 3: 331–346, 1997

A study of 180 healthy cats found that 15.6% were feline leukemia virus (FeLV) positive, 8.3% were feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) positive, and 1.1% were FIV and FeLV positive, which corresponded to 30.4, 13.8, and 2.6, of 115 cats with FIV- and FeLV-related symptoms, respectively. Differences were seen in the sexes and ages of the populations studied. Anemia, leukopenia, and lymphopenia were the most frequent hematological abnormalities in infected cats.

Type-I interferons (IFNs) are cytokines that have non-specific antiviral activity, participating mostly in innate defense mechanisms. Their administration has been proposed to treat several viral and immunomediated diseases as an immunomodulatory therapy. Due to its availability, recombinant human interferon-alpha (rHuIFN-α) has been studied in relation to feline retrovirosis, both in vitro and in vivo. However, IFNs are species-specific and antibodies have been shown to develop in response to the high rHuIFN-α doses necessary for an effective therapy. A recombinant feline IFN has been developed, which has been characterized as interferon-omega (rFeIFN-ω), designed to overcome these problems. Nonetheless, very few studies have been undertaken to evaluate its efficacy in cats naturally infected with FIV or FeLV. In an initial study, we here demonstrated that rFeIFN-ω can dramatically improve the clinical condition of infected cats, and induce improvement of hematologic parameters. Minor changes or no change was observed for hypergammaglobulinemia, CD4/CD8 ratio, proviral load, viremia and RT activity, suggesting that the overall effect of IFN was on innate immunity. More studies are needed in order to better understand its in vivo mechanisms.

Infections produced by feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV), two of the most prevalent pathogens in cats, range from passing unnoticed to presenting a wide variety of clinical signs. Different epidemiological, clinical, hematological and virological parameters were analyzed in 78 FIV-and/or FeLV-infected cats. FeLV-infected (FeLV + ) cats were considerably younger than FIV-infected (FIV + ) cats, and in general were seen to have a more severe disease than FIV + cats. Around one third of the cats presented anemia, and neutropenia was also frequently observed. Though a higher percentage of FIV + than FeLV + cats had altered leukocyte counts, FeLV + cats had altered counts of both neutrophils and lymphocytes more frequently than FIV + , which usually presented only either altered neutrophils or lymphocyte counts. Virological markers were only detected in FeLV + cats, either as mono-or dual-infection, and correlated with the severity of the disease, but not in FIV + cats. In conclusion, these results suggest that FeLV affects more blood cell types and provokes death of affected animals at a much earlier age than FIV and that the severity of the disease seemed to depend on the viral status of the cat.

(132 words)The efficacy of interferons (IFNs), used empirically to treat retrovirus-infected cats has been shown in vivo, but the direct effect on infected cells is largely unknown.

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The electrophoretogram of 89 cats, including those infected by feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV+), feline leukaemia virus (FeLV+) and non-infected, showed statistically significant differences in several of the fractions. FIV+ cats had very high protein values (mean, 8.10 g/dl), mostly because of hypergammaglobulinemia (mean, 2.81 g/dl) as compared with non-infected animals and FeLV+. In addition, in these FIV+ animals, the albumin/globulins ratio (A/G) was very low (mean, 0.72). Statistically significant differences in A/G and alpha2-globulin fraction were observed in FeLV+ group (A/G mean, 0.88 +/- 0.08; alpha2-globulin, mean, 0.84 +/- 0.07 g/dl) when compared with non-infected group (A/G mean, 1.06 +/- 0.08; alpha2-globulin mean, 0.68 +/- 0.04 g/dl). The alpha1-globulin fraction was higher in double infected animals (FIV and FeLV positive, F-F) (3.55 g/dl), than in FeLV+ or FIV+ cats (3.10 and 3.07 g/dl respectively), but no statistical conclusions may be drawn from this fact because of the low number of F-F animals. This technique may help to assess the initial clinical status of retrovirus-infected cats, and the clinical course of these chronic diseases, specifically during and after suitable therapy.

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