Gomez-Lucia Esperanza, Collado Victorio M, Miró Guadalupe, Martín Sonsoles, Benítez Laura, Doménech Ana
Department of Animal Health, Veterinary Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Viruses. 2019 Sep 11;11(9):845. doi: 10.3390/v11090845.
Specific treatments for the long-life infections by feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) are either toxic, expensive or not too effective. Interferon α (IFN-α) is an immunomodulatory molecule which has been shown in vitro to decrease the release of infective particles. The aim of this study was to follow the progress of the clinical score and viral parameters of FeLV- and FIV-naturally infected privately owned cats treated with recombinant human IFN-α (rHuIFN-α, Roferon-A). Twenty-seven FeLV-infected cats (FeLV+) and 31 FIV-infected cats (FIV+) were enrolled in the study. Owners were instructed to orally administer 1 mL/day of 60 IU rHuIFN-α/mL in alternating weeks for four months. Blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study (M0), mid-treatment (M2), end of treatment (M4), and 6-10 months later (M10). Clinical status at these time points improved notably with rHuIFN-α treatment, regardless of the initial severity of the disease, an effect which lasted throughout the study in most animals (15 of the 16 FeLV+ symptomatic cats; 20 of the 22 FIV+ symptomatic cats) improved markedly their clinical situation. In FeLV+ cats plasma antigenemia (p27CA), reverse transcriptase (RT) activity, and proviral load decreased at M2 and M4 but increased again at M10 ("rebound effect"). The level of antigenemia or RT activity was below the detection limits in FIV+ cats, and the effect on proviral load was less marked than in FeLV+ cats. Taken together, these results indicate that rHuIFN-α is a good candidate for treating FeLV+ cats, but the "rebound effect" seen when treatment was discontinued suggests that additional studies should be conducted to clarify its effect on progression of the infection in cats.
针对猫白血病病毒（FeLV）和猫免疫缺陷病毒（FIV）引起的长期感染的特效治疗方法，要么有毒，要么昂贵，要么效果不佳。干扰素α（IFN-α）是一种免疫调节分子，体外实验表明它可减少感染性颗粒的释放。本研究的目的是跟踪接受重组人干扰素α（rHuIFN-α，罗扰素-A）治疗的自然感染FeLV和FIV的家养猫的临床评分和病毒参数的变化情况。27只感染FeLV的猫（FeLV+）和31只感染FIV的猫（FIV+）被纳入研究。研究人员指导猫主人每隔一周口服1毫升/天、浓度为60国际单位/毫升的rHuIFN-α，持续四个月。在研究开始时（M0）、治疗中期（M2）、治疗结束时（M4）以及治疗后6至10个月（M10）采集血样。无论疾病最初的严重程度如何，rHuIFN-α治疗后这些时间点的临床状况均有显著改善，在大多数动物中（16只出现症状的FeLV+猫中的15只；22只出现症状的FIV+猫中的20只），这种改善效果在整个研究过程中持续存在，它们的临床状况明显好转。在FeLV+猫中，血浆抗原血症（p27CA）、逆转录酶（RT）活性和前病毒载量在M2和M4时下降，但在M10时再次上升（“反弹效应”）。FIV+猫的抗原血症或RT活性水平低于检测限，对前病毒载量的影响不如FeLV+猫明显。综上所述，这些结果表明rHuIFN-α是治疗FeLV+猫的良好候选药物，但停药时出现的“反弹效应”表明，应开展更多研究以阐明其对猫感染进程的影响。
