Therapy of Non-Dermatophytic Mycoses in Animals

Abstract

This review focuses on aspects of antimycotic therapy specific to veterinary medicine. In the first part, drug availability, limited mostly by economic consideration but also by clinical applicability and specific adverse effects, is described for polyenes, 5 fluorocytosine, azoles, echinocandins and terbinafine. In the second part, current knowledge and experience in the treatment of selected fungal infections are overviewed. These mycoses include disseminated mold infections in small animals (dogs and cats) and avian species, upper respiratory tract infections of small animals (sino-nasal and sino-orbital aspergillosis) and horses (guttural pouch mycosis), eumycetoma, infections caused by dimorphic fungi, (blastomycosis, histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, paracoccidioidomycosis and sporothrichosis) and by yeasts and yeast-like microorganism (Cryptococcus spp. and Malassezia pachydermatis).

Phaeohyphomycosis caused by Phialophora americana in a dog

“…Cladophialophora sp. ), and thus the treatment plan requires the use of antifungal drugs that reach the central nervous system. 17 All reported cases of Phialophora sp. infections in animals have been located in the skin.…”

Diagnostic and therapeutic management of Cryptococcosis in a kitten with practical considerations to veterinary pediatric therapeutic approach

“…The most significant advantage of fluconazole is its ability (shared neither with ketoconazole nor itraconazole) to pass the blood-brain barrier and the blood-ocular barrier, thus making it suitable to treat mycotic infections of these organs. Side effects of fluconazole may include gastrointestinal disturbances and hepatotoxicity and it is considered teratogenic [ 10 ]. Fluconazole should be administered in adults at the dose of 50 mg PO q12h, for 1- 2 months after the resolution of clinical signs [ 11 ].…”

Short Review on the Biological Activity of Cyclodextrin-Drug Inclusion Complexes Applicable in Veterinary Therapy

“…Species adapted to animal hosts can occasionally be transmitted to humans with whom they come into contact or to other animal species. The main dermatophytes of interest for veterinary medicine are from the genera Epidermophyton , Microsporum and Trichophyton [ 38 ].…”