Korean J Parasitol.  2012 Jun;50(2):161-164. 10.3347/kjp.2012.50.2.161.

Efficacy of Ronidazole for Treatment of Cats Experimentally Infected with a Korean Isolate of Tritrichomonas foetus

• Lim S
• Park SI
• Ahn KS
• Oh DS
• Shin SS

• KMID: 1384747
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2012.50.2.161

Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy of ronidazole for treatment of Tritrichomonas foetus infection, 6 Tritrichomonas-free kittens were experimentally infected with a Korean isolate of T. foetus. The experimental infection was confirmed by direct microscopy, culture, and single-tube nested PCR, and all cats demonstrated trophozoites of T. foetus by day 20 post-infection in the feces. From day 30 after the experimentally induced infection, 3 cats were treated with ronidazole (50 mg/kg twice a day for 14 days) and 3 other cats received placebo. Feces from each cat were tested for the presence of T. foetus by direct smear and culture of rectal swab samples using modified Diamond's medium once a week for 4 weeks. To confirm the culture results, the presence of T. foetus rRNA gene was determined by single-tube nested PCR assay. All 3 cats in the treatment group receiving ronidazole showed negative results for T. foetus infection during 2 weeks of treatment and 4 weeks follow-up by all detection methods used in this study. In contrast, rectal swab samples from cats in the control group were positive for T. foetus continuously throughout the study. The present study indicates that ronidazole is also effective to treat cats infected experimentally with a Korean isolate of T. foetus at a dose of 50 mg/kg twice a day for 14 days.

Keyword

Tritrichomonas foetus; cat; chemotherapy; ronidazole

MeSH Terms

Animals
Antiprotozoal Agents/*administration & dosage
Cat Diseases/*drug therapy/parasitology
Cats
Disease Models, Animal
Feces/parasitology
Male
Parasitology/methods
Placebos/administration & dosage
Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods
Protozoan Infections/*drug therapy/parasitology
Ronidazole/*administration & dosage
Treatment Outcome
Tritrichomonas foetus/genetics/isolation & purification/*pathogenicity