Antioxidant supplementation during treatment of outpatient dogs with parvovirus enteritis ameliorates oxidative stress and attenuates intestinal injury: A randomized controlled trial.

A prospective randomized controlled clinical study was conducted to determine whether antioxidant supplementation as an adjunct therapy alters hemogram, oxidative stress, serum intestinal fatty acid binding protein-2 (IFABP-2) level, fecal viral load, clinical score (CS) and survivability in outpatient canine parvovirus enteritis (CPVE) dogs. The dogs with CPVE were randomized to one of the five treatment groups: supportive treatment (ST) alone, ST with N-acetylcysteine (ST+NAC), resveratrol (ST+RES), coenzyme Q10 (ST+CoQ10) or ascorbic acid (ST+AA). The primary outcome measures were reduction of CS and fecal HA titre, and enhancement of survivability. Secondary outcome measures were reduction of oxidative stress indices and IFABP-2 level from day 0 to day 7. The mean CS and HA titre were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased from day 0 to 7 in ST and all antioxidant groups. The supplementations of NAC, RES and AA along with ST markedly (P < 0.05) reduced the concentrations of malondialdehyde, nitric oxide and IFABP-2 on day 7 as compared to ST alone. Additionally, NAC and RES supplementations markedly (P < 0.05) improved the total leukocyte count and neutrophil count in CPVE-affected dogs. NAC and RES could serve as better antioxidants for the amelioration of oxidative stress in CPVE but, the antioxidants did not confer any additional benefits in reduction of CS, fecal HA tire, or survivability when compared with ST alone.

Immunomodulating dose of levamisole stimulates innate immune response and prevents intestinal damage in porcine rotavirus diarrhea: a restricted-randomized, single-blinded, and placebo-controlled clinical trial.

A restricted-randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted to examine whether immunomodulating dose of levamisole (LMS) can stimulate certain antiviral immune markers by measuring the concentrations of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), nitric oxide (NOx), and total immunoglobulin G (IgG); prevents the gut injury; and reduces fecal consistency and dehydration scores in rotavirus type A (RVA)-positive piglet diarrhea. The trial was executed between November 2015 and May 2016 in an institute owned experimental swine production farm. The naturally RVA-exposed diarrheic piglets were used in the study. The piglets born between November 2015 and May 2016, age group of 0 to 2 weeks and confirmed for RVA-positive diarrhea, were randomized to receive supportive treatment (ST) or ST along with levamisole (LMS + ST) at immunomodulating dose. Simultaneously, six piglets were randomly selected from healthy population and kept as placebo control. The primary outcome was reduction of fecal consistency and dehydration scores (≤ 1) over the trial period. The secondary outcome was reduction of concentration of gut injury marker and stimulation of immunomodulatory function. The LMS + ST treatment progressively improved the total leukocyte, neutrophil count, IgG concentration (p < 0.05), and reduced the intestinal fatty acid-binding protein 2 (IFABP-2) concentration in RV-positive diarrheic piglets than ST only. Although NOx and IFN-γ concentrations were enhanced initially on day 3, however, the values reduced significantly on day 5 in response to LMS + ST compared to ST. Interestingly, the scores of fecal consistency and dehydration of RVA-positive diarrheic piglets were dropped much earlier (on day 3) in response to LMS + ST than ST alone. The results indicate that LMS along with supportive treatment non-specifically modulated innate immunity and restored intestinal gut health, and thus, LMS may represent an additional therapeutic agent for management of RVA-inflicted piglet diarrhea.

Immunomodulatory potential of ß-glucan as supportive treatment in porcine rotavirus enteritis.

A non-blinded randomized clinical trial was conducted to assess the immunomodulatory potential of ß-glucan (BG) in piglet diarrhoea associated with type A rotavirus infection. A total of 12 rotavirus-infected diarrheic piglets were randomly divided into two groups: wherein six rotavirus-infected piglets were treated with supportive treatment (ST) and other six rotavirus-infected piglets were treated with BG along with ST (ST-BG). Simultaneously, six healthy piglets were also included in the study which served as control. In rotavirus-infected piglets, marked increase of Intestinal Fatty Acid Binding Protein-2 (I-FABP2), nitric oxide (NOx), Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) concentrations and decrease of immunoglobulin G (IgG) were noticed compared to healthy piglets. The faecal consistency and dehydration scores were significantly higher in rotavirus-infected piglets than healthy piglets. The ST-BG treatment progressively reduced the I-FABP2 and increased the IgG concentrations over the time in rotavirus-infected piglets compared to piglets received only ST. A pronounced enhancement of NOx and IFN-γ concentrations was observed initially on day 3 and thereafter the values reduced on day 5 in ST-BG treated piglets in comparison to piglets which received only ST. Additionally, ST-BG treatment significantly reduced faecal consistency and dehydration scores on day 3 compared to ST in rotavirus-infected piglets. These findings point that BG represents a potential additional therapeutic option to improve the health condition and reduce the piglet mortality from rotavirus associated diarrhoea where porcine rotavirus vaccine is not available.