Naturally occurring viral keratoconjunctivitis in cats

The administration of human interferon or feline interferon does not help

West Lafayette – mechentel news – In cats with naturally occurring viral keratoconjunctivitis,the administration of human interferon or feline interferon does not help, so DVM J.M. Slack et al. of the Department of Veterinary Medicine in West Lafayette, USA. The aim of the study was to determine whether 14-day topical ocular administration of high doses of feline recombinant interferon omega (FelFN) or human recombinant interferon alpha-2b (HulFN) solution improves clinical disease and decreases virus shedding in cats with naturally acquired viral keratoconjunctivitis. Animals-36 cats with upper respiratory tract disease and ocular involvement. Procedures- Cats received 1 drop of FelFN solution (1 × 10(6) U/mL), HulFN solution (1 × 10(6) U/mL), or saline (0.9% NaCl) solution (12 cats/group) in each eye twice daily for 14 days (beginning day 1). Oropharyngeal and conjunctival swab samples were collected from each cat before (day 0) and on day 14 of treatment for virus isolation (VI) and realtime quantitative PCR (RT -qPCR) testing to detect feline herpesvirus- 1 and feline calicivirus. Subjective clinical scores were recorded on days 0, 3, 7, 10, and 14. Results-The number of cats for which feline herpesvirus-1 was detected via VI or RT -qPCR assay was generally (albeit not always significantly) lower on day 14, compared with day 0 findings; however, findings on days 0 or 14 did not differ among groups. The number of cats for which feline calicivirus was detected via VI or RT -qPCR assay did not differ significantly between days 0 and 14 for any group. Clinical scores significantly decreased over the 14-day period but did not differ among groups. The study was published in February issue 2013 in the journal Veterinary Research. In cats with naturally occurring viral keratoconjunctivitis, bilateral ocular administration of high doses of FelFN or HulFN twice daily for 14 days did not improve clinical disease or virus shedding, compared with treatment with saline solution.

Authors: Slack JM, Stiles J, Leutenegger CM, Moore GE, Pogranichniy RM. Correspondence: Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. Study: Effects of topical ocular administration of high doses of human recombinant interferon alpha-2b and feline recombinant interferon omega on naturally occurring viral keratoconjunctivitis in cats. Source: Am J Vet Res. 2013 Feb;74(2):281-9. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.74.2.281. Web: http://avmajournals. avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/ajvr.74.2.281?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref. org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dpubmed&