In vivo MALDI-TOF markers for early detection of Aleutian disease (AD) among the AD virus infected mink

A significant proportion of infected mink of non-Aleutian genotype naturally resists progression to immune complex disease. The nature of the AD resistance is presumably genetic. While hypergammaglubulinemia can be insensitively detected by an iodine test, more sensitive diagnosis of hyper-γ globulinemia and of other serum protein parameters associated with an immune-complex disease is currently cost prohibitive, time consuming, and laborious. Thus, practical, cost effective, sensitive, and high throughput tests for in vivo markers of disease vs. health in AD virus infected animals are currently not available. Such markers could have potential practical use in selection of AD virus infected animals for disease resistance. In this study, initially, parameters for serum protein MALDI-TOF serum analysis were established, and subsequently serum proteins of infected mink (CIEP positive) and mink from ADV uninfected farms were profiled by MALDI-TOF spectrometry. We determined the albumin-γ globulin (A/γ G) ratios and albumin-C reactive protein (A/C) ratios associated with health and disease, and furthermore we identified a 76 Kda protein, associated exclusively with disease, i.e. with pathological A/γ G ratio. We concluded that MALDI-TOF profiles of CIPE positive animals provide practical and cost effective tool for selection of breeders for AD resistant phenotype, which could in turn facilitate on farm resistance breeding programs'.