Detection of feline immunodeficiency virus in saliva and plasma by cultivation and polymerase chain reaction.

The rates of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) isolation from saliva, plasma, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of infected cats were compared; isolation rates were 18, 14, and 81%, respectively, in naturally infected cats and 25, 57, and 100%, respectively, in experimentally infected animals. There was no obvious relationship between isolation rate and clinical stage or between isolation rate and the titer of neutralizing antibody in serum. Virus could be isolated from one salivary gland as early as 1 week postinfection and, on a more regular basis, starting at 3 weeks postinfection, when, however, most other tissues were also positive. Polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that FIV genomes are present in saliva and plasma more frequently than expected on the basis of isolation data. Saliva was also found to contain viral DNA, indicating that it may harbor virus-infected cells as well as free virus. The addition of plasma but not of saliva to PBMC cultures delayed FIV growth. Isolation from plasma may be hampered by FIV neutralizing antibody and by the cytotoxic activity of this fluid for the PBMC used as a cell substrate.