Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Lysine supplements did not reduce eye and nose infections in shelter
By Drazenovich, Tracy L et al.·Published in American journal of veterinary research·2009·Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effects of dietary lysine supplementation on upper respiratory and ocular disease and detection of infectious organisms in cats within an animal shelter.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 261 adult cats in a shelter were given either a regular diet or a diet supplemented with lysine to see if it would help with upper respiratory and eye problems. After four weeks, the cats on the lysine diet had higher levels of lysine in their blood, but surprisingly, more of them developed moderate to severe disease compared to those on the regular diet. Additionally, a virus called feline herpesvirus (FHV-1) was found more often in the lysine-treated cats. Overall, the study found that adding lysine to the diet did not help and may have made the cats' conditions worse.
People also search for: cat upper respiratory disease treatment · feline herpesvirus symptoms · lysine for cats eye problems
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine within a cat shelter effects of dietary lysine supplementation on nasal and ocular disease and detection of nucleic acids of Chlamydophila felis, feline calicivirus (FCV), and feline herpesvirus (FHV-1). ANIMALS: 261 adult cats. PROCEDURES: Cats were fed a diet containing 1.7% (basal diet; control cats) or 5.7% (supplemented diet; treated cats) lysine for 4 weeks. Plasma concentrations of lysine and arginine were assessed at the beginning (baseline) and end of the study. Three times a week, cats were assigned a clinical score based on evidence of nasal and ocular disease. Conjunctival and oropharyngeal swab specimens were tested for FHV-1, FCV, and C felis nucleic acids once a week. RESULTS: Data were collected from 123, 74, 59, and 47 cats during study weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. By study end, plasma lysine concentration in treated cats was greater than that in control cats and had increased from baseline. There was no difference between dietary groups in the proportion of cats developing mild disease. However, more treated cats than control cats developed moderate to severe disease during week 4. During week 2, FHV-1 DNA was detected more commonly in swab specimens from treated versus control cats. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Dietary lysine supplementation in the amount used in our study was not a successful means of controlling infectious upper respiratory disease within a cat shelter. Rather, it led to increases in disease severity and the incidence of detection of FHV-1 DNA in oropharyngeal or conjunctival mucosal swab specimens at certain time points.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19878022/