Oral Recombinant Feline Interferon-Omega as an alternative immune modulation therapy in FIV positive cats: clinical and laboratory evaluation

Abstract

Recombinant-Feline Interferon-Omega (rFeIFN-ω) is an immune-modulator licensed for use subcutaneously in Feline Immunodeficiency virus (FIV) therapy. Despite oral protocols have been suggested, little is known about such use in FIV-infected cats. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical improvement, laboratory findings, concurrent viral excretion and acute phase proteins (APPs) in naturally FIV-infected cats under oral rFeIFN-ω therapy (0.1 MU/cat rFeIFN-ω PO, SID, 90 days). 11 FIV-positive cats were treated with oral rFeIFN-ω (PO Group). Results were compared to previous data from 7 FIV-positive cats treated with the subcutaneous licensed protocol (SC Group). Initial clinical scores were similar in both groups. Independently of the protocol, rFeIFN-ω induced a significant clinical improvement of treated cats. Concurrent viral excretion and APP's variation were not significant in the PO Group. Oral rFeIFN-ω can be an effective alternative therapy for FIV-infected cats, being also an option for treatment follow-up in cats submitted to the licensed protocol.

Keywords: Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV); Immune-modulation; Oral therapy; Recombinant-Feline Interferon Omega (rFeIFN-ω).

Fig. 1

Individual clinical scores for each cat of each group, before and after rFeIFN-ω therapy. SC Group refers to cats treated with the licensed sub-cutaneous protocol while the PO Group refers to cats treated with oral protocol.

Fig. 2

Total Proteins, Gammaglobulins and Albumin serum levels of FIV positive cats treated with two different protocols of rFeIFN-ω (Mean values ± standard error). The SC Group refers to cats treated with the licensed protocol while the PO Group refers to cats treated with oral rFeIFN-ω. Horizontal lines (---) represent, respectively, the upper and lower limits of the normal range for each parameter.