Allestimento di un test ELISA per l'evidenziazione di anticorpi nei confronti di norovirus in gatti domestici

Introduction and aim of the study. Recently, novel enteric caliciviruses closely related to human norovirus (NoVs) of genogroup IV have been detected from the stools of carnivores (a captive lion cub and a young pup), suggesting the existence of a new clade of NoVs in carnivores. In order to investigate the prevalence of antibodies against NoVs in cats, we expressed in the baculovirus system the capsid protein VPI of the lion NoV strain (Pistoia/387/06/ITA) and we used the recombinant antigen for the development of an ELISA test. Material and methods. For the expression of the lion NoV VPI capsid protein, the full-length ORF2 gene was cloned into the BamHI site of the pRN16 vector. The construct was used to transfect insect cells along with the baculovirus linearized DNA. The recombinant VPI protein was used to develop an ELISA test that was used to screen 211 sera of cat for the presence of antibodies against NoVs. Results and discussion. The overall prevalence of GIV NoV-specific antibodies was 16,11% (34/211). The prevalence was higher (32%) in free-ranging cats living in Rome Bioparco than in domestic cats. Our preliminary results indicate that NoVs infection may be common among cats[...