Background: A past clinical trial in cats with chronic pancreatitis suggested that once-daily treatment with cyclosporine is associated with a reduction of serum feline pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity (fPLI) concentration. Whether a higher dosing frequency of cyclosporine is beneficial is of interest. Hypothesis: Twice daily cyclosporine is associated with reduced serum fPLI concentrations in cats with chronic pancreatitis. Animals:Ten client-owned cats with ≥ 2-week history of clinical signs of chronic pancreatitis and two measurements of serum fPLI concentration ≥ 8.8 µg/L. Cats were excluded if they received immunomodulatory drugs within the previous 3 months.
Methods: Non-controlled clinical trial. Cats received cyclosporine (Atopica 5 mg/kg PO q12h) for 21 days. Supportive treatment and treatment for comorbidities were allowed. Serum fPLI concentrations were measured at pre-treatment baseline and on days 10 and 21 of treatment.
Results: Pre-treatment serum fPLI concentrations were higher than those at day 10 (P = .042), but not significantly different from day 21 (P = .076). All cats showed a reduction of serum fPLI concentrations on day 10, but 4 cats showed a subsequent increase on day 21, with 3 of those 4 cats having a serum concentration greater than at pre-treatment baseline (Figures 1 & 2). Conclusions and clinical importance: Cats treated with twice daily cyclosporine in conjunction with other supportive care had a reduction in serum fPLI concentrations after 10 days but not 21 days of treatment for some cats. Determining the reasons why some cats have a rebound of serum fPLI concentration warrants further investigation.
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