Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Molidustat treatment for anemia in cats with chronic kidney disease
By Charles, Samuel et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2024·Research and Breakthrough Innovation, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Use of molidustat, a hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor, in chronic kidney disease-associated anemia in cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 21 cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and anemia were given a new treatment called molidustat to see if it could help increase their red blood cell levels. Over 28 days, the cats receiving molidustat showed a significant increase in their hematocrit (a measure of red blood cells) by the third week, while those on a control treatment did not see any improvement. By the end of the study, more cats treated with molidustat had a noticeable increase in their red blood cell counts compared to those on the control. This suggests that molidustat could be a helpful option for managing anemia in cats with CKD.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Erythropoietic effects of molidustat, a hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase (HIF-PH) inhibitor, were previously demonstrated in healthy cats. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and erythropoietic effects of daily PO administration of molidustat in anemic cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD). ANIMALS: Twenty-one client-owned CKD cats (4-17 years old) with anemia. METHODS: Multicenter field study; randomized, masked, and placebo-controlled. Cats were treated PO once daily for 28 days with suspensions of control product (CP; n = 6) or 5 mg/kg of molidustat (n = 15). Hematocrit (HCT) was evaluated at weekly intervals. Individual cat treatment success was defined as a ≥4% point increase in HCT compared to baseline. RESULTS: Control group mean HCT remained low throughout the study (20.1%-23.4%). Mean HCT of molidustat-treated cats increased weekly, and a significant increase compared to baseline (23.6%) was first observed on Day 21 (27.3%; P < .001; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.69-5.67). Compared to CP group, mean HCT was significantly higher on Day 21 (27.3% vs 20.1%; P < .001; 95% CI, 2.91-10.75) but not significantly higher on Day 28 (27.8% vs 23.4%; P = .06; 95% CI, -0.23 to 9.88). The number of individual treatment successes on Day 28 was higher among remaining molidustat-treated cats (7/14) compared to remaining control cats (1/5), but there was no significant difference between groups. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Daily PO molidustat administration may stimulate a clinically relevant erythropoietic response in anemic cats with CKD. This HIF-PH inhibitor may be an alternative for managing anemia in cats compared to recombinant EPO treatment.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37740521/