Evaluation of 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl) adenine therapy for feline immunodeficiency virus using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

To determine the efficacy of 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine (PMEA) as a prophylactic chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of lentivirus infections, three groups of specific pathogen free cats were treated with 0, 3, or 6 mg kg-1 twice daily doses of PMEA beginning 24 h prior to virus challenge with feline immunodeficiency virus Petaluma strain. Treatment was continued for 7 weeks post challenge. During this time cats were monitored for drug toxicity, virus specific antibody response, circulating viral antigen and infectious recoverable virus. To determine the long-term influence of PMEA therapy the cats were monitored for 1 year following the cessation of treatment. The low levels of infectious virus present in blood prompted the development of quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay to enumerate viral DNA burdens in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the infected cats and thereby assess drug efficacy. The results indicate that, although prophylactic PMEA did not prevent infection, it did substantially limit feline immunodeficiency virus replication. Furthermore, viral DNA levels remained low in the cats receiving drug a full year (the duration of the study) after cessation of treatment.