ASPECTOS CLÍNICOS, LABORATORIAIS E TRATAMENTO DA GENGIVOESTOMATITE EM GATOS

Abstract

Gingivostomatitis is a multifactorial disease affecting the cats’ oral cavity, characterized by severe inflammation resulting from an exaggerated immune response. Diagnosis and treatment for complete cure are challenging, as they grounded on a combination of observation of clinical signs, complementary examinations, and the gradual exclusion of other clinical conditions presenting similar symptoms. The objective of this study was to conduct a literature review of articles on this topic published in the last five years, found in the Scielo, Google Scholar and Pubmed databases. The articles consulted showed that the diagnosis of gingivostomatitis is challenging and requires an individual approach for a multifactorial evaluation. There is a significant statistical correlation between the presence of tongue lesions. Caudal lesions, which are more severe because they are more proliferative and affect a larger area of the oral cavity. Swabs or bacterial plaque from different regions of the mucosa can detect the presence of the bacterium Flexilinea flocculi, a reduction in commensal microbiota, or the presence of Fretibacterium sp. and Peptostreptococcus bacteria, as well as the fungi Malassezia restricta and Cladosporium. The challenge is finding a laboratory specialized in these species, the culture time can be very long and performing PCR requires registration of this species in the genomic database. Molecular diagnosis of mucosal transcriptome demonstrated that enzymes caspase 4 (CASP4), matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP8), and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) are predictive biomarkers of a favorable prognosis for tooth extraction. The ELISA test for identifying the endothelin-1 (ET-1) biomarker is associated with viral gingivostomatitis. The gold standard treatment is total or partial tooth extraction. For refractory patients, there are therapies still under study such as Cyclosporine, Recombinant feline interferon-omega (rFeIFN-ω), autologous and allogeneic Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and Cannabidiol. Diagnosis and treatment are still time consuming and expensive, making it a challenging disease for veterinarians, patients and owners.