Abstract
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a sporadic fatal disease of cats caused by a virulent variant of feline coronavirus (FCoV), referred to as FIP virus (FIPV). Treatment options are limited, and most of the affected cats die or are euthanized. Anecdotally, doxycycline has been used to treat FIP-affected cats, but there are currently no data to support or discourage such treatment. The aim of this study was to establish whether doxycycline inhibits replication of FIPV in vitro. The virus was cultured in Crandell-Rees feline kidney cells with various concentrations of doxycycline (0 to 50 µg/mL). The level of FIPV in cultures was determined by virus titration and FCoV-specific reverse-transcription quantitative PCR. Cell viability was also monitored. There was no difference in the level of infectious virus or viral RNA between doxycycline-treated and untreated cultures at 3, 12- and 18-hours post-infection. However, at 24 h, the growth of FIPV was inhibited by approximately two logs in cultures with >10 µg/mL doxycycline. This inhibition was dose-dependent, with inhibitory concentration 50% (IC50) 4.1 µg/mL and IC90 5.4 µg/mL. Our data suggest that doxycycline has some inhibitory effect on FIPV replication in vitro, which supports future clinical trials of its use for the treatment of FIP-affected cats.
Highlights
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a sporadic fatal disease of cats caused by a virulent variant of feline coronavirus (FCoV), referred to as FIP virus (FIPV) [1]
Doxycycline was not toxic to the Crandell-Rees feline kidney (CRFK) cells at concentrations ranging from 5 to 50 μg/mL, and all tested concentrations were used in the antiviral activity testing
The levels of infectious virus increased in all wells between 3 and 24 h of culture (Figure 1), which was accompanied by a corresponding increase in the levels of FIPV RNA (Figure 2)
Summary
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a sporadic fatal disease of cats caused by a virulent variant of feline coronavirus (FCoV), referred to as FIP virus (FIPV). FIP-affected cats, but there are currently no data to support or discourage such treatment. The virus was cultured in Crandell-Rees feline kidney cells with various concentrations of doxycycline There was no difference in the level of infectious virus or viral RNA between doxycycline-treated and untreated cultures at 3, 12- and. At 24 h, the growth of FIPV was inhibited by approximately two logs in cultures with >10 μg/mL doxycycline. This inhibition was dose-dependent, with inhibitory concentration 50% (IC50 ) 4.1 μg/mL and IC90 5.4 μg/mL. Our data suggest that doxycycline has some inhibitory effect on FIPV replication in vitro, which supports future clinical trials of its use for the treatment of FIP-affected cats. Feline coronavirus is classified within the genus Alphacoronavirus in the family Coronaviridae of the order
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