Evaluating the association between blood genotype or phenotype and haemoplasma infection in UK and Italian cats

Background: In humans, blood groups are associated with varying preva- lence of infections. The aim of this study was to determine if associations exist between the feline AB blood group system and haemoplasma infection. Methods: Data from two studies were combined. In the first study, DNA sam- ples from 131 haemoplasma-infected and 132 haemoplasma-uninfected UK cats underwent pyrosequencing to determine their blood genotype as AA, Ab or bb. In the second study, blood samples from 160 Italian cats of known blood phenotype A, B or AB underwent PCR testing for feline haemoplasma species DNA. Results: Haemoplasma infection was demonstrated in cats of all phenotypes and genotypes. A significantly higher number of Ab genotype cats tested pos- itive for overall haemoplasma infection status (p = 0.04) and for Mycoplasma haemofelis infection (p = 0.03). Limitations: Haemoplasma-infected Italian cats were few, possibly increas- ing the chance of type II error, and the presence of purebred cats in the sample population may have had a confounding effect. Conclusions: Feline haemoplasmas do not appear to preferentially use either blood type A or B antigens as attachment sites for erythrocyte colonisation. Further investigations in a larger number of haemoplasma-infected cats of known blood phenotype are warranted to explain the association between genotype Ab and haemoplasma infection.