Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Ehrlichia canis infection reactivation risk in treated dogs under
By Sato, Masahiko et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2020·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Ehrlichia canis in dogs experimentally infected, treated, and then immune suppressed during the acute or subclinical phases.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Seven beagles that had previously been treated for Ehrlichia canis infection with doxycycline were given immunosuppressive medications, prednisolone and cyclosporine, for six weeks to see if the infection would reactivate. Throughout the treatment, none of the dogs showed any signs of illness or evidence of the infection returning, based on blood tests and other monitoring. Even six months after the treatment ended, most of the dogs still tested negative for the infection. This suggests that the initial treatment with doxycycline was effective and that using these immunosuppressive drugs did not cause the infection to come back.
People also search for: dog Ehrlichia canis treatment · immunosuppressive drugs for dogs · doxycycline for dog infections
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Concerns for recrudescence of Ehrlichia canis infection arise when immunosuppressive drugs are used to treat immune-mediated diseases in dogs previously infected with E. canis. OBJECTIVES: Determine whether administration of prednisolone and cyclosporine would reactivate E. canis infection in dogs previously treated with doxycycline during the acute or subclinical phases. ANIMALS: Seven beagles previously experimentally infected with E. canis and administered doxycycline for 4 weeks were included. Three of the 7 dogs were incidentally concurrently infected with Anaplasma platys and Babesia vogeli and were administered 2 doses of imidocarb 2 weeks apart before enrollment in the current study. METHODS: Experimental study. Each dog was administered prednisolone and cyclosporine for 6 weeks. Clinical signs, complete blood cell count (CBC), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for E. canis, A. platys, and B. vogeli DNA in blood, E. canis indirect fluorescent antibodies (IFA) titers, and flow cytometry for antiplatelet antibodies were monitored. RESULTS: All dogs completed the immunosuppressive protocol. No evidence for recrudescence of E. canis, A. platys, or B. vogeli were detected based on clinical signs or results of CBC, PCR, IFA, and flow cytometry for antiplatelet antibodies. E. canis IFA titers were negative in 5/7 dogs at the end of immunosuppressive protocol and were negative 6 months after the protocol in 5/5 dogs available for testing. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Dogs administered with a 4-week course of doxycycline with or without imidocarb failed to show evidence of activation of E. canis infection after administration of a commonly used immune suppressive protocol.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32267035/