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Successful Treatment of Canine Sporotrichosis with Terbinafine: Case Reports and Literature Review

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Abstract

Sporotrichosis occurs worldwide, and the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is a main endemic area, with a large number of human and animal cases in the last 19 years. This mycosis is more frequently described in cats rather than in dogs. There are a limited number of oral antifungal agents for the treatment of sporotrichosis in animals. In this context, the effectiveness of terbinafine in the treatment of sporotrichosis in humans, as well as the promising results of in vitro susceptibility tests, inspired us to use this drug in the therapy of this mycosis in dogs. We reported for the first time the use of terbinafine in the treatment of two dogs with sporotrichosis caused by Sporothrix brasiliensis. Moreover, we provided an overview of therapeutic features of canine sporotrichosis cases reported since the 1960s. One of the dogs presented the fixed cutaneous form of the disease, while the other patient presented hyperemia of the nasal mucosa and respiratory signs only. Terbinafine showed high antifungal activity in vitro against the canine Sporothrix isolates. The dogs were successfully treated with terbinafine, with remission of all clinical signs initially presented. The current reports indicate that this drug can emerge as a therapeutic option for canine sporotrichosis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Tânia Maria Pacheco Schubach for revising the manuscript and for processing figures; to James Czarnecki for the careful English review of the article; and to the staff of Diagnostic Section of the Mycology Laboratory of INI/Fiocruz. This study was supported by Fundação Carlos Chagas de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ—Programa Jovem Cientista do Nosso Estado/E-26/203.303/2016). SAP holds a research productivity fellowship granted by Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico (CNPq). PGV holds a PhD scholarship granted by CNPq.

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  1. Laboratory of Clinical Research on Dermatozoonosis in Domestic Animals, Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fiocruz, Avenida Brasil, 4365, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, 21040-360, Brazil

    Paula Gonçalves Viana, Anna Barreto Fernandes Figueiredo, Isabella Dib Ferreira Gremião, Luisa Helena Monteiro de Miranda, Isabela Maria da Silva Antonio, Jéssica Sepulveda Boechat, Ana Caroline de Sá Machado, Manoel Marques Evangelista de Oliveira & Sandro Antonio Pereira

  2. Laboratory of Mycology, Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fiocruz, Avenida Brasil, 4365, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, 21040-360, Brazil

    Manoel Marques Evangelista de Oliveira

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  1. Paula Gonçalves Viana
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Viana, P.G., Figueiredo, A.B.F., Gremião, I.D.F. et al. Successful Treatment of Canine Sporotrichosis with Terbinafine: Case Reports and Literature Review. Mycopathologia 183, 471–478 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-017-0225-6

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