Imiquimod treatment for Equus caballus papillomavirus infection in equine aural plaques.

The research deals with the treatment of Equus caballus papillomavirus (EcPV), a disease associated with aural plaques in horses, using a 5% imiquimod cream, and measures its effectiveness as well as changes in EcPV detection before and after treatment.

Experiment Design

• The researchers established a study group comprising eight horses suffering from aural plaques (effecting 14 ears in total), along with a control group of three mares, also suffering from unilateral aural plaques but left untreated.
• The treatment involved the application of the imiquimod cream every other day until the aural plaques disappeared completely.
• The clinical condition of the animals was evaluated for a span of 180 days following the treatment.
• Aural plaque biopsies were done before and 90 days after the treatment to detect EcPV strain types 3, 4, 5, and 6 using a method called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). This is a common method used in research for making millions to billions of copies of a particular DNA sequence, allowing for its detection and study.

Results

• The treatment showed a clinical resolution in 93% of the treated horse’s ears and the clearance of EcPV in 71.4% of the treated ears.
• On the other hand, the control group displayed no significant changes in their clinical condition and EcPV DNA positivity between the first and second biopsies.
• Moreover, the process of pretreatment cleaning needed to sedate 75% of the horses in order to be carried out.

Conclusions

• The results attained from this study support the hypothesis that 5% imiquimod cream may serve as an efficient treatment for aural plaques in horses.
• The marked clinical improvement and the reduction in EcPV DNA in the experimental group as compared to the control group affirms the effectiveness of this treatment method.