Paşa S.Tetik Vardarli A.Erol N.Karakuş M.Töz S.Atasoy A.Balcioğlu T.C.Emek Tuna G.Ermiş T.V.Ertabaklar H.Özbel Y.2024-07-222024-07-22201503044017http://akademikarsiv.cbu.edu.tr:4000/handle/123456789/16254Leishmaniosis is a group of diseases caused by different species of Leishmania parasites in mammalian species. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of Leishmania spp. DNA in cats using real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays targeting internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) and heat-shock protein 70 gene (Hsp70) regions with Leishmania species-specific primers and probes. Blood samples were collected from 147 cats (73 female; 74 male) in the endemic regions for zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in the western provinces of Turkey and analyzed using two RT-PCR assays. Additionally, Hsp70 RT-PCR products were sequenced. ELISA assays for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) were also carried out for 145 of the 147 samples.Overall, 13/147 (8.84%) cats were positive for Leishmania by RT-PCR (4 L. major and 9 L. tropica). FIV and FeLV antibody and/or antigen was detected in 4 and 5 cats among Leishmania DNA positives, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate and report the presence of L. major and L. tropica infections in a large group of domestic cats in Turkey. The results obtained indicate that species identification of Leishmania is essential for epidemiological understanding and that clinical signs alone are not indicative for leishmaniosis in cats, as it is in dogs. This study suggests that extensive research should be carried out in cat populations in order to fully understand the role of cats in the epidemiology of the disease. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.EnglishAnimalsAntibodies, ViralCat DiseasesCatsCoinfectionFemaleImmunodeficiency Virus, FelineLeishmania majorLeishmania tropicaLeishmaniasis, CutaneousLentivirus InfectionsLeukemia Virus, FelineMaleRetroviridae InfectionsTumor Virus InfectionsTurkeyDNAheat shock protein 70internal transcribed spacer 1virus antibodyArticleblood samplingcat diseasecontrolled studydomestic catenzyme linked immunosorbent assayFeline immunodeficiency virusFeline leukemia virusfemalegenegene sequenceHsp70 geneITS1 geneLeishmania majorLeishmania tropicaleishmaniasismalemolecular probenonhumannucleotide sequenceparasite identificationprevalencereal time polymerase chain reactionTurkey (republic)animalbloodcatCat Diseasescomplicationisolation and purificationLeishmaniasis, CutaneousLentivirus Infectionsmixed infectionparasitologyRetroviridae InfectionsTumor Virus InfectionsTurkeyveterinaryvirologyArticle10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.07.042