Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Recombinant interferon omega treatment for feline retrovirus
By Doménech, Ana et al.·Published in Veterinary immunology and immunopathology·2011·Departamento Sanidad Animal, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Use of recombinant interferon omega in feline retrovirosis: from theory to practice.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) or feline leukemia virus (FeLV) received a new treatment called recombinant feline interferon-omega (rFeIFN-ω) to see if it could help improve their health. The cats showed significant improvement in their overall condition and some blood parameters after treatment. However, there were only minor changes in other factors related to the viruses. This suggests that the interferon treatment mainly boosted their immune response. More research is needed to fully understand how this treatment works in cats.
People also search for: cat FIV treatment · feline leukemia virus therapy · interferon omega for cats
Abstract
Type-I interferons (IFNs) are cytokines that have non-specific antiviral activity, participating mostly in innate defense mechanisms. Their administration has been proposed to treat several viral and immunomediated diseases as an immunomodulatory therapy. Due to its availability, recombinant human interferon-alpha (rHuIFN-α) has been studied in relation to feline retrovirosis, both in vitro and in vivo. However, IFNs are species-specific and antibodies have been shown to develop in response to the high rHuIFN-α doses necessary for an effective therapy. A recombinant feline IFN has been developed, which has been characterized as interferon-omega (rFeIFN-ω), designed to overcome these problems. Nonetheless, very few studies have been undertaken to evaluate its efficacy in cats naturally infected with FIV or FeLV. In an initial study, we here demonstrated that rFeIFN-ω can dramatically improve the clinical condition of infected cats, and induce improvement of hematologic parameters. Minor changes or no change was observed for hypergammaglobulinemia, CD4/CD8 ratio, proviral load, viremia and RT activity, suggesting that the overall effect of IFN was on innate immunity. More studies are needed in order to better understand its in vivo mechanisms.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21719116/