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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 1999, p. 3618-3626, Vol. 37, No. 11
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Bartonella vinsonii subsp.
berkhoffii and Related Members of the Alpha Subdivision of
the Proteobacteria in Dogs with Cardiac Arrhythmias,
Endocarditis, or Myocarditis
Edward B.
Breitschwerdt,1,*
Clarke E.
Atkins,1
Talmage T.
Brown,2
Dorsey L.
Kordick,1 and
Patti S.
Snyder3
Departments of Clinical
Sciences1 and Microbiology, Pathology,
and Parasitology,2 College of Veterinary
Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
27606, and College of Veterinary Medicine, University of
Florida, Gainesville, Florida 326103
Received 4 January 1999/Returned for modification 10 May
1999/Accepted 4 August 1999
Cardiac arrhythmias, endocarditis, or myocarditis was identified in
12 dogs, of which 11 were seroreactive to Bartonella
vinsonii subspecies berkhoffii antigens. Historical
abnormalities were highly variable but frequently included substantial
weight loss, syncope, collapse, or sudden death. Fever was an
infrequently detected abnormality. Cardiac disease was diagnosed
following an illness of short duration in most dogs, but a protracted
illness of at least 6 months' duration was reported for four dogs.
Valvular endocarditis was diagnosed echocardiographically or
histologically in eight dogs, two of which also had moderate to severe
multifocal myocarditis. Four dogs lacking definitive evidence of
endocarditis were included because of seroreactivity to B. vinsonii antigens and uncharacterized heart murmurs and/or
arrhythmias. Alpha proteobacteria were not isolated from the blood by
either conventional or lysis centrifugation blood culture techniques.
Using PCR amplification and DNA sequencing of a portion of the 16S rRNA
gene, B. vinsonii was identified in the blood or heart
valves of three dogs. DNA sequence alignment of PCR amplicons derived
from blood or tissue samples from seven dogs clustered among members of
the alpha subdivision of the Proteobacteria and suggested
the possibility of involvement of one or more alpha proteobacteria;
however, because of the limited quantity of sequence, the genus could
not be identified. Serologic or molecular evidence of coinfection with
tick-transmitted pathogens, including Ehrlichia canis,
Babesia canis, Babesia gibsonii, or spotted
fever group rickettsiae, was obtained for seven dogs. We conclude that
B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii and closely
related species of alpha proteobacteria are an important, previously
unrecognized cause of arrhythmias, endocarditis, myocarditis, syncope,
and sudden death in dogs.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Companion Animal and Special Species Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606. Phone:
(919) 513-6234. Fax: (919) 513-6336. E-mail:
ed_breitschwerdt{at}ncsu.edu.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 1999, p. 3618-3626, Vol. 37, No. 11
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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