Glomerular Injury in Domestic Cats and the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus): A Comparative Review

Glomerular lesions, in particular glomerulonephritis, were once considered rare in the domestic cat (Nash et al, 1979; Slawson & Lewis, 1979), but in the past decades, the diagnosis of these lesions has increased substantially possibly due to a better understanding and awareness of these diseases (DiBartola & Rutgers, 1994; Grant Maxie & Newman, 2007). Most of the feline glomerulonephritis reported to date are of immune-complex origin (Slawson & Lewis, 1979; Newman et al, 2007; Grant Maxie & Newman, 2007) although some fibrillary glomerulopathies such as glomerular amyloidosis (Boyce et al, 1984; DiBartola et al, 1985, 1986, Gruys 2004; Newman et al, 2007; Grant Maxie & Newman, 2007) and to lesser extent noncongophilic glomerulopathies (Nakamura et al, 1996; Cavana et al, 2008) are also described. The etiology is frequently elusive, though many associations with infectious and other diseases have been identified (Newman et al, 2007; Grant Maxie & Newman, 2007). In particular, association between certain viral diseases such as feline leukemia, feline immunodeficiency virus and feline infectious peritonitis are known to course with some degree of glomerular injury (Glick et al, 1978; Hayasi et al, 1982; Newman et al, 2007). Several reports also relate certain neoplasms with the presence of glomerular injury (Hayasi et al, 1982; Newman et al, 2007). Primary glomerular diseases severe enough to cause the nephrotic syndrome are relatively uncommon in the domestic cat (Schwartz, 2007, as cited in Cavana et al, 2008) and in general lack relevance in most non-domestic felids (Newkirk et al, 2010). However, once renal failure ensues, the outcome is fatal and treatment is only palliative (Nash et al, 1979; DiBartola & Rutgers, 1994). Knowledge on the pathogenesis, type of injury, origin and similarities to human counterparts enables a better understanding of the disease which may permit earlier detection or its prevention. This becomes of even greater importance when considering endangered species such as the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), with less than 200 individuals remaining in the wild and captivity (Guzman et al, 2002). The survival of a single animal becomes crucial. The Iberian lynx is a large felid that has inhabited the Iberian Peninsula for over centuries (Garcia et al, 1997; Garcia & Arsuaga, 1998). Nowadays this species is rated as “critically endangered” (Nowel & Jackson, 1996) and remaining samples are confined to two isolated