Histopathological evaluation of the adrenal glands in a cat with primary hypoadrenocorticism and multiple endocrine disease

Abstract

Case summary A 6-year-old male neutered domestic longhair cat was referred for investigation of weight loss, hyporexia, vomiting and diarrhoea. The cat was diagnosed with primary hypoadrenocorticism, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, cobalamin deficiency and a chronic enteropathy, and started on therapeutic treatment. Diabetes mellitus developed 4.5 months later, and the cat was started on insulin therapy. The cat was euthanased 10 months following the diagnosis of hypoadrenocorticism due to the development of status epilepticus, which was not associated with glucose or electrolyte abnormalities. Histopathological assessment of the adrenal glands at post-mortem examination documented lymphoplasmacytic adrenalitis, with the lymphocytic population being predominant. Immunohistochemical staining classified the lymphocytic infiltrate as T-cell rich, supportive of the cat’s hypoadrenocorticism being due to autoimmune disease. Relevance and novel information This case documents the novel use of immunohistochemical staining in combination with histopathology to further assess the adrenal glands in non-neoplastic-associated primary hypoadrenocorticism in a cat. This identified similar pathological changes to those previously described in dogs with autoimmune primary hypoadrenocorticism. Additionally, this is the first report of a cat with multiple endocrine disease that included primary hypoadrenocorticism and highlights that monitoring for the development of additional endocrine disease should be advised in these cases.