Use of recombinant canine granulocyte-colony stimulating factor to increase leukocyte count in dogs naturally infected by canine parvovirus

Publication date: Available online 14 March 2019Source: Veterinary MicrobiologyAuthor(s): Andrea Armenise, Paolo Trerotoli, Francesco Cirone, Anna De Nitto, Costantina De Sario, Walter Bertazzolo, Annamaria Pratelli, Nicola DecaroAbstractCanine parvovirus (CPV) is one of the most important cause of mortality in young dogs and no specific treatment exists. Since prolonged leukopenia greatly increases the risk of death in infected pups, strategies to counteract this decline were investigated. The outcomes of CPV naturally infected pups treated with the recombinant canine granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (rcG-CSF), in combination with the routine therapy, were compared with similarly-managed infected pups not treated with rcG-CSF. A non-randomized prospective clinical trial was performed on 62 CPV infected pups with WBC counts <3000 cells/µL and two different groups were selected based on a non-randomized approach. Group A dogs (31/62) received 5 µg/Kg of rcG-CSF daily from the hospitalization day until WBC reached the reference range (3 to 5 days) and group B (31/62) received 1 ml of placebo injection. All dogs in group A recovered, while five dogs in group B died. The rcG-CSF treatment demonstrated a statistically significant effect on WBC counts (p < 0.0001) and, surprisingly, also on lymphocytes and monocytes counts (p < 0.0001). There was no significant effect of treatment on neutrophil count (p = 0.5502). Although lymphocytes and monocyte...
Source: Veterinary Microbiology - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research