Atopica
In most small animal practices, one of the most common ailments seen is canine allergy, also called atopy. In our practice, probably 70% of the dogs have some form of allergic disease. In contrast to humans with allergies who commonly develop respiratory symptoms such as sneezing and nasal discharge, dogs generally develop skin and ear problems. The skin problems consist of scratching and biting at various areas of their bodies and the ear problems result in recurrent ear infections. Many treatments have been used including medicated baths, fatty acid supplements, antihistamines, and even hyposensitization injection techniques.
The drug of choice in allergic conditions is cortisone as it is very effective. However, chronic use of cortisone is contraindicated and will cause serious side effects so its use has to be limited. However, a new drug has just been approved for canine atopy called Atopica. This drug is a form of cyclosporine manufactured by Novartis Animal Health. The company indicates the drug works by inhibiting cytokine gene expression in T lymphocyte cells, thereby blocking the production and secretion of interleukin 2, the cytokine responsible for initiating the inflammation.
Although we have used the human formulation Neoral in dogs for the last several years to treat allergies, Novartis indicates this is a new formulation that will prevent destruction in the stomach and therefore make the drug more available. Also, Atopica is FDA approved for treating canine allergy. Although cyclosporine is reported to have less side effects than cortisone, it is still classified as an immunosuppressive and as such can increase the risk of infections. Although the cost of Atopica may be a drawback, the benefits to allergic dogs are exciting.
Date Published: 1/10/2005
