Guidelines for treatment of leishmaniasis in dogs

Drug treatment of leishmaniasis in dogs is a challenge veterinary practitioners. Because of its pathogenesis, leishmaniasis may manifest with clinical signs, ranging from mild and nonspecific those reflecting severe involvement of several . The immune response plays an important role the development, outcome, and response to treatment Leishmania infection in dogs.1 All known anti- drugs used in dogs can lead to temporary permanent remission of clinical signs, but none are to eliminate the infection.2 Indeed, all anti- drugs currently used in dogs were discovered developed to treat leishmaniasis in humans. therapeutic protocols were developed through clinical studies and thereafter adapted to dogs, without sufficient pharmacokinetic information to dogs. dogs, the objectives of anti-Leishmania treatment typically to induce a general reduction of the parasite , to treat organ damage caused by the parasite, restore efficient immune responses, to stabilize a -induced clinical improvement, and to treat clinical . The most widely used drugs are described the present report. In addition, we propose a 5-class of leishmaniasis that can help in choosing the appropriate anti-Leishmania treatment. As with guidelines for diagnosis of leishmaniasis in dogs,3 guidelines reported here are an updated version of originally published in Italian in Veterinaria, the journal of the Italian Society of Veterinarians for treatment of leishmaniasis in dogs Companion Animals, and are based on a thorough of international literature and, where data are or incomplete, are supplemented with the of Canine Leishmaniasis Working Group . The present guidelines are limited to specific drugs and are not intended to cover ancillary drugs that are often necessary during of leishmaniasis in dogs.