Abstract
ABSTRACT: Feline sporotrichosis is a relevant mycose in veterinary medicine due to its severity and zoonotic potential and the fact that it can be difficult to treat. The immune status of the animal exerts influence on the prognosis of the disease and determines its clinical outcome. This study evaluated the efficacy of the immunomodulatory thymomodulin as an adjunct to antifungal therapy in cats with disseminated sporotrichosis; thymomodulin was used in association with itraconazole (ITL) and potassium iodide (KI) to treat this fungal disease in the feline patient. Thirty-one cats (n=31) diagnosed with disseminated cutaneous sporotrichosis were divided into two groups as follows: Group 1 (G1) (n=16), which included those animals that were treated with thymomodulin in association with ITL and KI, and Group 2 (G2) (n=15) which had pacientsthat received ITL and KI only. The response to different treatment modalities was assessed, considering the survival rate, time frame for the lesions to respond to therapy, and clinical improvement or deterioration according to a body condition score system. Animals from G1 had a survival rate of nearly 100% (93.6%) that was approximately twice higher than the survival rate of those animals from G2 (53%). Moreover, patients from G1 had a significantly better prognosis, improved body condition, and shorter time for remission of the extra cutaneous clinical signs (p<0.02). Our findings showed that the association of thymomodulin with ITL and KI improves the prognosis of cats with disseminated cutaneous sporotrichosis.
Highlights
Sporotrichosis is a cosmopolitan disease which is described as an acute or chronic implantation mycosis and is caused by pathogenic clades of Sporothrix spp. (FERREIRA et al, 2019)
After the clinical suspicion of cutaneous sporotrichosis was confirmed by the mycological examination, cats were categorized on the day of the beginning of therapy (M0), based on the distribution of the skin lesions according to the methods published by SCHUBACH et al (2004) and REIS et al (2016)
This study had 31 cats, 16 of which were included in Group 1 (G1) and 15 in Group 2 (G2)
Summary
Sporotrichosis is a cosmopolitan disease which is described as an acute or chronic implantation mycosis and is caused by pathogenic clades of Sporothrix spp. (FERREIRA et al, 2019). In Brazil S. brasiliensis is the most prevalent species of Sporothrix (NASAKU et al, 2020). It is closely associated with the zoonotic transmission through scratches and bite wounds inflicted by infected cats (GREMIÃO, 2015). V.51, n.6, and the large numbers of non-domiciled and semidomiciled (stray) cats that are affected by this fungal infection. All these factors make sporothricosis a public health problem in Brazil, which is especially alarming in the States of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul (POESTER et al, 2018; GREMIÃO et al, 2020; MACÊDO-SALES et al, 2020; NAKASU et al, 2020; RODRIGUES et al, 2020)
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