Table 4 Comparison of aetiology, epidemiology, and clinical features in cats with low-grade alimentary lymphoma (LGAL) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD)
| Â | LGAL | IBD |
|---|---|---|
Aetiology | Currently unknown | Currently unknown, multifactorial disease, though many factors implicated including genetic factors and enteric bacteria or protozoa [3, 11, 52, 63] |
Age | Mainly older cats [4] | |
Breed | No breed predisposition [59] | Domestic shorthair and longhair, Persian, Siamese predisposed [63, 78, 79, 87] |
Gastrointestinal locations | Any but duodenum and ileum most common (70–90%) [58, 59, 119] | |
Clinical signs | Weight loss, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, lethargy [8, 63, 79] | Weight loss, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, lethargy [8, 63, 79] |
Biomarkers | Â | Â |
 Albumin | Decreased (49%) | Decreased (77%) [87] |
 Total proteins | NA | Increased (18%) [78] |
 Cobalamin | ||
 Folate | Increased (37%) [72] | Increased (22%) [87] |
 LDH | Increased (47%) [172] | Increased (26%) [172] |
 ALP and ALT | NA | Increased (23%) [78] |
 fPLI | NA | Increased (18%) [78] |
 Phosphate | NA | Decreased (47%) [78] |
Ultrasonography | Muscularis propria frequently thickened [8, 15, 59, 95, 101]; mesenteric (i.e. jejunal) lymphadenomegaly frequent [95]; gastrointestinal intramural masses rare [75]; stratification, architecture and motility normal to modified [95] | Muscularis propria frequently thickened in eosinophilic enteritis (EE), and occasionally in lymphoplasmacytic enteritis (LPE) [15, 78, 84, 95, 101]; mesenteric lymphadenomegaly frequent [78, 95]; gastrointestinal intramural masses rare [75]; stratification architecture, and motility normal to modified [95] |
Histological features and immunohistochemistry | Diffuse infiltration by monomorphic neoplastic T-cells [6, 8] | Polymorphic inflammatory infiltrate of lymphocytes, plasma cells (LPE), neutrophils, eosinophils (EE), and macrophages [75, 84, 174] |
Clonality test |