Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
AST-120 treatment for chronic diarrhea in dogs with unknown gut
By Volkmann, M et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2013·Clinic of Small Animals, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Efficacy of AST-120 in dogs with chronic idiopathic enteropathies.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 10 dogs with chronic diarrhea that didn't improve on a special diet were given either a treatment called AST-120 or a placebo for three weeks. The dogs that received AST-120 showed a significant improvement in their symptoms, with four out of five dogs experiencing a major reduction in their disease severity scores. While the results weren't statistically significant, there were no side effects noted from the treatment. This suggests that AST-120 might be a helpful option for dogs suffering from chronic intestinal issues.
People also search for: dog chronic diarrhea treatment · AST-120 for dogs · dog inflammatory bowel disease symptoms
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chronic idiopathic enteropathies (CIE) in dogs are complex diseases of unknown origin. AST-120 is a spherical carbon adsorbent preparation with a high adsorption ability for low molecular substances. OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the clinical efficacy of AST-120 in dogs with CIE. ANIMALS: Ten client-owned dogs with mild (n = 7) to moderate (n = 3) CIE. METHODS: Explorative, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded pilot study. Dogs with chronic diarrhea and no or insufficient response to an elimination diet were included. The dogs received either AST-120 (n = 5) or placebo (n = 5) for a duration of 21 days. The canine inflammatory bowel disease activity index (CIBDAI) was used to assess disease severity at baseline and clinical outcome after 3 weeks of treatment. Furthermore, changes in body weight and the parameters stool consistency and frequency were compared within and between groups. RESULTS: The mean CIBDAI score decreased from 5.6 (SD 1.5) to 2.0 (SD 1.2) in the AST-120 group (P = .125) and from 4.8 (SD .8) to 3.6 (SD 2.3) in the placebo group (P = .688). Compared with baseline, posttreatment CIBDAI scores decreased more than 60% in 4/5 dogs treated with AST-120 and in 1/5 dogs treated with placebo (P = .206). Changes in CIBDAI scores, body weights, stool consistency, and frequency within and between groups did not achieve statistical significance after 3 weeks of treatment. No adverse effects of AST-120 were noted. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: This study investigated potential efficacy of AST-120 as an alternative therapy in dogs with mild-to-moderate CIE.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24128298/