Efficacy of itraconazole oral solution using an alternating-week pulse therapy regimen for treatment of cats with experimental Microsporum canis infection:

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to evaluate itraconazole 10 mg/ml oral solution for the treatment of Microsporum canis infection using an alternating-week pulse therapy regimen in a controlled laboratory setting.MethodsEighty cats with experimentally induced infections were randomly assigned to treatment (itraconazole vs control [sterile water]), administered 5 mg/kg PO q24h for 1 week on alternate weeks for 5 weeks, followed by a 4 week follow-up period. Topical therapeutic treatment was not administered. Cats were individually housed in stainless steel cages that were cleaned and disinfected daily. Study measures included weekly fungal cultures, clinical lesion scores, Wood’s lamp examination and periodic laboratory monitoring. Mycological cure was defined as two consecutive negative cultures.ResultsItraconazole-treated cats had significantly greater (P = 0.0003) mycological cure compared with untreated controls (24/40 [60%] vs 1/40 [2.5%], respectively) and all of these reached clinical cure ...