Mesocestoidosis and multivisceral tetrathyridiosis in a European cat

Abstract

This report describes the clinical, parasitological and pathological findings in a 6-year-old intact female European cat with thoracic and peritoneal tetrathyridiosis, characterized by genital involvement. Physical examination and X-ray evaluation revealed laboured breathing and several pulmonary nodules suggestive of cancer. However, necropsy demonstrated a parasitic aetiology of the disease. Histologically, multifocal granulomas were detected in the lungs, uterus and ovary. Parasitological examination permitted identification of the intestinal parasites as Mesocestoides lineatus, which was later confirmed by molecular examination. The larval forms in the peritoneal and chest cavity were identified as the second stage of the Mesocestoides sp. cestode named Tetrathyridia spp. The chronic injuries observed and the rapid course of the disease from the onset of the symptoms until death suggested a long period without clinical signs and indicate that overt disease can potentially be triggered by a failure of the immune system. The observed oophoritis and metritis identify tetrathyridiosis as a possible differential diagnosis in genital dysfunction.

Differential sensitivity of myeloid and lymphoid cell populations to apoptosis in peritoneal cavity of mice with model larval Mesocestoides vogae infection

“…Interestingly, proliferative metacestode stages of Mesocestoides sp. were also documented in peritoneal and pleural cavities of dogs (Toplu et al, 2004; Boyce et al, 2011) and cats (Eleni et al, 2007; Lanteri et al, 2017), although carnivores represent the definitive hosts in which tapeworm reach adult stage in the gut. There is no immunopathological restriction of parasite growth in terms of enclosing metacestodes in the fibrous capsules, thus the events occurring during the early stages of metacestode infections in peritoneum seem to be important for their establishment.…”

Species delimitation based on mtDNA genes suggests the occurrence of new species of Mesocestoides in the Mediterranean region

“…Notably the latter, which is described in the Italian Peninsula [ 2 ], was not identified in this work. Conversely, M. lineatus has been previously identified in Italy in a cat from Sicily [ 27 ], as evidenced by sequence GenBank: KU821650 included as an outlier within the M. lineatus cluster. This finding suggests that possibly several Mesocestoides spp.…”

“…Recently, a clear genetic distinction of M. lineatus and M. litteratus has been investigated in specimens displaying minor differences in male and female reproductive organs of worms collected from red foxes in Slovak Republic [ 5 ]. Although these parasites are common in the Mediterranean region [ 2 , 6 , 13 , 26 , 27 ], very few studies have investigated the taxonomy and the molecular characterization of Mesocestoides in this area.…”

Verschlungen – Bandwürmer bei Katzen

“…Mesocestoides -Arten werden in Mitteleuropa nur selten diagnostiziert. Obwohl sie bei Fleischfressern als Adulte im Dünndarm leben, wo sie klinisch kaum relevant sind, bewerkstelligen sie als Sekundärlarve (Tetrathyridien) nach oraler Aufnahme durch Fleischfresser und andere Säuger einschließlich des Menschen eine extraintestinale Besiedelung der Körperhöhlen, inneren Organe und der Muskulatur mit entsprechenden Veränderungen (Tetrathyridiose) 1 , 2 , 3 , deren Therapie meist langwierig ist 4 , 5 .…”