SARS CoV-2 (Delta Variant) Infection Kinetics and Immunopathogenesis in Domestic Cats.

Continued emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants highlights the critical need for adaptable and translational animal models for acute COVID-19. Limitations to current animal models for SARS CoV-2 (e.g., transgenic mice, non-human primates, ferrets) include subclinical to mild lower respiratory disease, divergence from clinical COVID-19 disease course, and/or the need for host genetic modifications to permit infection. We therefore established a feline model to study COVID-19 disease progression and utilized this model to evaluate infection kinetics and immunopathology of the rapidly circulating Delta variant (B.1.617.2) of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, specific-pathogen-free domestic cats (n = 24) were inoculated intranasally and/or intratracheally with SARS CoV-2 (B.1.617.2). Infected cats developed severe clinical respiratory disease and pulmonary lesions at 4- and 12-days post-infection (dpi), even at 1/10 the dose of previously studied wild-type SARS-CoV-2. Infectious virus was isolated from nasal secretions of delta-variant infected cats in high amounts at multiple timepoints, and viral antigen was co-localized in ACE2-expressing cells of the lungs (pneumocytes, vascular endothelium, peribronchial glandular epithelium) and strongly associated with severe pulmonary inflammation and vasculitis that were more pronounced than in wild-type SARS-CoV-2 infection. RNA sequencing of infected feline lung tissues identified upregulation of multiple gene pathways associated with cytokine receptor interactions, chemokine signaling, and viral protein-cytokine interactions during acute infection with SARS-CoV-2. Weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) of differentially expressed genes identified several distinct clusters of dysregulated hub genes that are significantly correlated with both clinical signs and lesions during acute infection. Collectively, the results of these studies help to delineate the role of domestic cats in disease transmission and response to variant emergence, establish a flexible translational model to develop strategies to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, and identify potential targets for downstream therapeutic development.

Clinical and Histopathologic Features of a Feline SARS-CoV-2 Infection Model Are Analogous to Acute COVID-19 in Humans.

The emergence and ensuing dominance of COVID-19 on the world stage has emphasized the urgency of efficient animal models for the development of therapeutics for and assessment of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Shortcomings of current animal models for SARS-CoV-2 include limited lower respiratory disease, divergence from clinical COVID-19 disease, and requirements for host genetic modifications to permit infection. In this study, n = 12 specific-pathogen-free domestic cats were infected intratracheally with SARS-CoV-2 to evaluate clinical disease, histopathologic lesions, and viral infection kinetics at 4 and 8 days post-inoculation; n = 6 sham-inoculated cats served as controls. Intratracheal inoculation of SARS-CoV-2 produced a significant degree of clinical disease (lethargy, fever, dyspnea, and dry cough) consistent with that observed in the early exudative phase of COVID-19. Pulmonary lesions such as diffuse alveolar damage, hyaline membrane formation, fibrin deposition, and proteinaceous exudates were also observed with SARS-CoV-2 infection, replicating lesions identified in people hospitalized with ARDS from COVID-19. A significant correlation was observed between the degree of clinical disease identified in infected cats and pulmonary lesions. Viral loads and ACE2 expression were also quantified in nasal turbinates, distal trachea, lungs, and other organs. Results of this study validate a feline model for SARS-CoV-2 infection that results in clinical disease and histopathologic lesions consistent with acute COVID-19 in humans, thus encouraging its use for future translational studies.