Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
5-Aminolevulinic Acid May Help Fight Feline Infectious Peritonitis
By Takano, Tomomi et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2021·Department of Veterinary Medicine, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Possible Antiviral Activity of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid in Feline Infectious Peritonitis Virus (Feline Coronavirus) Infection.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study found that 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), a compound that can be made in large amounts, may help fight feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a serious disease caused by a virus in cats. Researchers tested 5-ALA on cells infected with the virus and found that it significantly reduced the infection at a specific concentration. This suggests that 5-ALA could be a potential treatment option for FIP in cats, which currently has limited effective antiviral treatments available.
People also search for: cat FIP treatment · feline coronavirus antiviral · 5-ALA for cats
Abstract
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a life-threatening infectious disease of cats caused by virulent feline coronavirus (FIP virus: FIPV). For the treatment of FIP, several effective antivirals were recently reported, but many of these are not available for practical use. 5-amino levulinic acid (5-ALA) is a low-molecular-weight amino acid synthesized in plant and animal cells. 5-ALA can be synthesized in a large amount, and it is widely applied in the medical and agricultural fields. We hypothesized that 5-ALA inhibits FIPV infection. Therefore, we evaluated its antiviral activity against FIPV in felis catus whole fetus-4 cells and feline primary macrophages. FIPV infection was significantly inhibited by 250 μM 5-ALA. Our study suggested that 5-ALA is applicable for the treatment and prevention of FIPV infection.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33644160/