01231-A: Prevalence and Localization of Bartonella spp. in Vascular Tumors from Dogs
Grant Status: Closed
Project Summary
This study showed a statistically higher prevalence of Bartonella spp. DNA in surgical biopsy samples obtained from dogs with hemangiosarcoma (the most commonly encountered vascular neoplasm of spleen in dogs) compared to dogs with lymphoid nodular hyperplasia (the most commonly encountered non neoplastic splenic disease). These results provide preliminary evidence that bacteria of the genus Bartonella may contribute to the development of vascular tumors in dogs. One future direction the researchers hope to explore will be to test the prevalence of Bartonella spp. in other vascular tumors, particularly hemangiopericytomas. Also, in an effort to obtain additional environmental control data they are planning to test the prevalence of Bartonella spp. in the spleens of dogs euthanized at a local animal shelter. Studying additional control populations will be required to determine the medical relevance of the data generated to date and will provide information regarding the prevalence of Bartonella spp in the spleens of dogs within the general dog population.
Publication(s)
Varanat, M., Maggi, R. G., Linder, K. E., & Breitschwerdt, E. B. (2011). Molecular prevalence of Bartonella, Babesia, and Hemotropic Mycoplasma sp. in dogs with splenic disease. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 25(6), 1284–1291. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.00811.x
Help Future Generations of Dogs
Participate in canine health research by providing samples or by enrolling in a clinical trial. Samples are needed from healthy dogs and dogs affected by specific diseases.