valacyclovir and Pulmonary-Fibrosis

Equine herpesvirus-5 is commonly isolated from the lungs of horses with EMPF, suggesting an etiological link. Valacyclovir is used empirically to treat EMPF; however, no data is available concerning its impact on EHV-5 viral kinetics.. To determine the effect of oral administration of valacyclovir on EHV-5 viral load measured by qPCR in blood, nasal secretions (NS) and BALF in horses with EMPF.. Six horses diagnosed with EMPF.. A prospective clinical trial was performed. Horses received 10 days of PO administered valacyclovir (loading dose 30 mg/kg, maintenance dose 20 mg/kg). Blood, NS, and BALF were collected for EHV-5 viral kinetics analyses during treatment. Blood and NS were collected every other day. BALF was collected on day 0 and day 10.. There was no statistical difference in median EHV-5 viral load between day 0 and day 10 for all samples tested. In blood median EHV-5 viral load was 7676 (range 575-39 781) on day 0 and 6822 (range 1136-18 635) glycoprotein B (gB) gene copies per million cells on day 10. For NS median EHV-5 viral load was 2.944 × 10. Valacyclovir might not be an effective short-term antiviral treatment but efficacy in treatment of EMPF is unknown.

Topics: Animals; Antiviral Agents; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; DNA, Viral; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Gammaherpesvirinae; Herpesviridae Infections; Horse Diseases; Horses; Male; Pulmonary Fibrosis; Valacyclovir; Virus Replication