NELIDA VIRGINIA GOMEZ
Buenos Aires University, Argentina.
Title: Efficacy of a combination of two nucleoside and one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in feline immunodeficiency virus-naturally infected cats, during the asymptomatic and AIDS stages of the disease
Biography
Biography: NELIDA VIRGINIA GOMEZ
Abstract
The aim of this study is to report the comparative results of using combined antiviral drugs on naturally-infected FIV cats in the asymptomatic and AIDS stages of the disease. The drug combinations evaluated were: ZDV alone and ZDV+3TC+Nevirapine. Plasma viral load was measured at the beginning of treatment and at one year. Total leucocytes, neutrophils and lymphocyte counts, CD4+/CD8+ ratios and biochemical profile values were also analyzed. Neurological disease was evaluated by evoked potentials determinations. The results showed a better efficacy of the combined therapy vs. ZDV alone, reducing the viral load, increasing the CD4+/CD8+ ratio and producing the improvement of the clinical signs in the asymptomatic stage. In the AIDS stage the differences between both protocols were not so marked, but the combined therapy produced better results compared with ZDV alone. The auditory and visual evoked potentials resulted good as predictors of the neurological disease and showing the evolution of the patients with both protocols contrasted.