Canine Gastrointestinal Pythiosis Treatment by Com

Authors: Daniela I B Pereira Sônia A Botton Maria I Azevedo Marco A A Motta Raulene R Lobo Mauro P Soares Anelise O S Fonseca Francielli P K Jesus Sydney H Alves Janio M Santurio

Publish Date: 2013/08/07

Volume: 176, Issue: 3-4, Pages: 309-315

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Abstract

Pythium insidiosum is an oomycete a fungal like microorganism which infects mammals causing pythiosis in animals and humans especially in tropical and subtropical regions around the world The treatment for this infection is very difficult and therapeutic options commonly comprise surgery immunotherapy and antimicrobial drugs The present report describes the clinical healing of a dog with gastrointestinal pythiosis by treatment with a combination of antifungals and immunotherapy as well as reviews the cases reported in the literature that used some type of therapy for canine pythiosis A 25yearold male beagle initially showed sporadic vomiting episodes and this symptom became more frequent 5 months after the onset of clinical signs Celiotomy procedure found thickness of the stomach wall extending to the pylorus and duodenum A biopsy was performed and the diagnosis of pythiosis was made by mycological histopathological analyses and molecular identification Therapy was based on an association of terbinafine plus itraconazole during 12 months and immunotherapy for 25 months The healing of the dog reported here allows us to propose the use of immunotherapy associated with antifungal therapy to treat canine gastrointestinal pythiosis However additional studies should be performed on a larger number of patients to establish a standard treatment protocol for canine pythiosisNone of the authors of this manuscript has a financial or personal relationship with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias the content of the paper Janio M Santurio has a commercial interest in the immunotherapy product

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