Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a novel free polyaggregated amphotericin B (FPA) formulation used to treat experimental canine leishmaniosis (CanL) caused by Leishmania infantum. Eight healthy beagles were intravenously challenged with 5×107 promastigotes per mL of L. infantum. One year after infection, they received an intravenous dose of FPA (5 mg/kg) every 2 weeks three times. Dogs were assessed monthly for clinical signs, serology, and parasite detection during a follow-up period of 6 months. Transient adverse effects (i.e., hypotension, diarrhea, bodyweight loss, fever, and asthenia) were observed within 24–48 hours after treatment in 4 animals. In three dogs mean clinical signs scores were reduced. Antibody titers measured by immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) had significantly diminished at the end of the study, although according to bone marrow smears and cultures a high percentage of dogs tested positive for the parasite at 6 months posttreatment (PT6). Real-time quantitative PCR (rtQ-PCR) on blood, bone marrow, and urine samples revealed the presence of parasitic DNA in all animals at PT6, although blood loads of the parasite were reduced. These findings indicate that FPA at the dosing regimen used did not achieve clinical or parasitological cure in dogs experimentally infected with L. infantum.

Highlights

  • Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) is a serious zoonotic disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania (Kinetoplastida, Trypanosomatidae)

  • Most prominent abnormalities were observed at T1 including anemia (n = 7) and thrombocytopenia (n = 4)

  • We opted for starting treatment one year after the initial challenge when persistent clinical signs could be detected in every animal

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) is a serious zoonotic disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania (Kinetoplastida, Trypanosomatidae). The disease is endemic in many countries worldwide, including the Mediterranean basin, Portugal, South Africa, and Latin America [1], and is of major veterinary and public health concern since domestic dogs are the main reservoir of Leishmania infantum [2]. Infected female sand flies of the genus Phlebotomus (Diptera, Psychodidae) are the biological vectors for L. infantum in Europe. These hematophagous insects transmit the disease by inoculating metacyclic promastigotes in the skin of vertebrate hosts [3]. CanL is associated with a high prevalence of chronic renal insufficiency caused by glomerulonephritis, which, in turn, is the main cause of mortality in dogs [8]

Methods
Results
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call