Curing Cats with Feline Infectious Peritonitis with an Oral Multi-Component Drug Containing GS-441524
1 Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
2 Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 80337 Munich, Germany
3 Section of Clinical and Comparative Neuropathology, Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
4 Clinical Laboratory, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, and Center for Clinical Studies, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
5 Department Paediatrics, Division Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 80337 Munich, Germany
6 Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Insel Riems, 17493 Greifswald, Germany
7 German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Luebeck-Borstel-Riems, Greifswald-Insel Riems, 17493 Greifswald, Germany
8 Medicinal Chemistry, KU Leuven, Rega Institute for Medical Research, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
9 German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Munich, 80337 Munich, Germany
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
Viruses 2021, 13(11), 2228;https://doi.org/10.3390/v13112228
Received: 8 October 2021 / Revised: 28 October 2021 / Accepted: 1 November 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021
Abstract
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) caused by feline coronavirus (FCoV) is a common dis-ease in cats, fatal if untreated, and no effective treatment is currently legally available. The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and toxicity of the multi-component drug Xraphconnin vitro and as oral treatment in cats with spontaneous FIP by examining survival rate, development of clinical and laboratory parameters, viral loads, anti-FCoV antibodies, and adverse effects. Mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance identified GS-441524 as an active component of Xraphconn. Eighteen cats with FIP were prospectively followed up while being treated orally for 84 days. Values of key parameters on each examination day were compared to values before treatment initiation using linear mixed-effect models. Xraphconn displayed high virucidal activity in cell culture. All cats recovered with dramatic improvement of clinical and laboratory parameters and massive reduction in viral loads within the first few days of treatment without serious adverse effects. Oral treatment with Xraphconn containing GS-441524 was highly effective for FIP without causing serious adverse effects. This drug is an excellent option for the oral treatment of FIP and should be trialed as potential effective treatment option for other severe coronavirus-associated diseases across species.
Keywords: FIP; cats; nucleoside analogue; prediction; therapy; total bilirubin.