Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Long-term antiretroviral treatment for cats with feline
By Medeiros, Sheila de Oliveira et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2016·Department of Genetics, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Follow-up on long-term antiretroviral therapy for cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of domestic cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) underwent long-term treatment with antiretroviral drugs, specifically zidovudine (AZT) and lamivudine (3TC), over several years. While the treatment aimed to manage the virus, it was found that some cats developed resistance to the therapy, leading to changes in their immune response and an increase in viral load after stopping treatment. This study highlights the challenges of using long-term antiretroviral therapy in cats and suggests that resistance mutations can occur.
People also search for: cat FIV treatment options · feline immunodeficiency virus long-term care · cat antiretroviral therapy effects
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a lentivirus that induces AIDS-like disease in cats. Some of the antiretroviral drugs available to treat patients with HIV type 1 are used to treat FIV-infected cats; however, antiretroviral therapy (ART) is not used in cats as a long-term treatment. In this study, the effects of long-term ART were evaluated in domestic cats treated initially with the nucleoside transcriptase reverse inhibitor (NTRI) zidovudine (AZT) over a period ranging from 5-6 years, followed by a regimen of the NTRI lamivudine (3TC) plus AZT over 3 years. METHODS: Viral load, sequencing of pol (reverse transcriptase [RT]) region and CD4:CD8 lymphocyte ratio were evaluated during and after treatment. Untreated cats were evaluated as a control group. RESULTS: CD4:CD8 ratios were lower, and uncharacterized resistance mutations were found in the RT region in the group of treated cats. A slight increase in viral load was observed in some cats after discontinuing treatment. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The data strongly suggest that treated cats were resistant to therapy, and uncharacterized resistance mutations in the RT gene of FIV were selected for by AZT. Few studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of long-term antiretroviral therapy in cats. To date, resistance mutations have not been described in vivo.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25855689/