b'2019 AAEP CONVENTION WRAP-UPCiclesonide allows for higher dosage with fewer side effects and a favorable safety profile, Leclere said.The team performed three controlled studies over three years, each on eight horses with severe asthma that were ex-posed to a high-allergen environment (via a moldy hay challenge). In each study the groups received different doses of cicle-sonide via soft mist inhaler for two weeks. Horses also received dexamethasone as a positive control (to compare against a corticosteroid with known efficacy and side effects) in the first two studies and a placebo in the third. The researchers as-sessed lung function, clinical scores such as cough and respiratory effort, and serum cortisol levels during each period.Study 1 The researchers administered small doses of ciclesonide (450-1,800 g twice a day) and found it neither had a negative effect on horses serum cortisol nor a significant effect on their clinical AMY K. DRAGOOsigns or lung function.Study 2 Next, the team administered higher doses and found that all doses improved the horses lung function andIts important that veterinarians be able to control fevers in horses quickly to minimize deleterious clinical scores by Day 7. The horses lungsystemic effects and improve patient well-being.function was nearly normal by Day 14 with the highest dose of 2,700 g. Thehorses. Emily Sundman, DVM, clinicalcompletely in six (75%). Dipyrone rapidly drug did not affect serum cortisol. development manager at Kindred Biosci- and significantly reduced the horses tem-Study 3 Lastly, the researchers com- ences, described the efficacy studies shesperatures at all four timepoints. pared the safety and efficacy of adminis- done on the drug. Study 2 The second study was ran-tering 2,700 g of ciclesonide twice a dayDipyrone is a drug used in human anddomized and placebo-controlled. The vs. 3,712.5 g once daily. The twice-a-dayveterinary medicine for pain relief, feverresearchers took the rectal temperatures 2,700-g dose improved lung functionreduction, muscle spasm suppression,of 31 febrile horses before administering by Day 7, and once-a-day 3,712.5 gand as an anti-inflammatory. In horses,dipyrone, then four and six hours after. improved function by Day 14. Again, evenveterinarians need to control fevers asThe following day horses crossed into the at higher doses, the drug had no effect onquickly as possible to minimize deleteri- other treatment group, and the procedures cortisol or blood parameters measured.ous systemic effects and improve patientwere repeated in any still-febrile horses. The researchers concluded that cicle- well-being, Sundman explained. Treated horses temperatures lowered sig-sonide does reverse airway obstructionTo test dipyrones ability to reducenificantly more than controls four and six in horses with severe asthma, and its thehorses body temperature, she and herhours post-treatment with dipyrone. only corticosteroid to date not associatedteam conducted two studies on adultIntravenous dipyrone can effectively with cortisol suppression. It appears to behorses with respiratory infections andreduce fever in horses with respiratory safe and is most effective when adminis- rectal temperatures of at least 102 degreesinfection quickly (as early as one hour), tered at 2,700 g twice a day. However, theFahrenheit. with maximum effect at three to four drug is not yet FDA-approved for use inStudy 1 Sundman said they performedhours, maintained over a six-hour period, horses.Alexandra Beckstett the first study, done without a placeboSundman concluded.group, simply to determine what to expectShe said the only symptoms her team MEDICATIONS from the drug. Her team gave eight af- noted were temporary changes in fecal Veterinarians Now Have a Drug tofected horses a single intravenous (IV) 30consistency and clinical signs consistent Reduce Fever in Horses mg/kg dose of dipyrone and took rectalwith respiratory infection.In November 2019 the FDA approvedtemperatures before drug administrationThis study provides supportive infor-the first and only medication for feverand one, two, three, and six hours later.mation for practitioners to evaluate horses control in horses: dipyrone. Prior to thisSundman said body temperaturespost-treatment with dipyrone in clinical drug coming available, veterinarians weredecreased by at least one degree in sevenpractice, she said.limited to using NSAIDs to address febrilehorses (87.5%), and fevers disappearedAlexandra Beckstett40March 2020The Horse|TheHorse.comAAEPWrapUp.indd 40 2/6/20 1:43 PM'