FELINE AIDS FIV BY ARTHUR GITTLEMAN
The shortcomings of the standard western medicine will be ever evident on treating FIV. (In HIV HAART is effective in less than fifty percent of patients) We must move to integrated and progressive thinking if we are to treat this disease. We need information. We need to be aware of all available avenues that are reasonable, practical and achievable.
FIV is a infectious disease. It lasts a life time once it enters the cells in the body. There was no cure for it. After a variable latency period subsequent to being infected the patient's immunological bulwark against infectious disease with time normally crumbles. The body falls prey to assault by opportunistic organisms. Until recently the patient died from this assault on the body. But with modern science we now have hope of survival. This is true with humans and felines.
FIV is similar to an autoimmune disease which you treat with Prednisolone or licorice root which is immunosuppressive. In SIV the immune system does not attack the disease does not progress to AIDS. The monkey lives with it. The FIV virus is harmless but the immune system is destructive and must be inhibited as it is overactive. Most particles attacked are non-infectious. In FIV plasmacytoid dendritic cells that produce IFN-a attack the disease instead of living with it. Prednisolone inhibits this but I prefer licorice root which also interfers with virus-cell binding. Glucocorticoid controls the regulation of IFN-a. IFN-a creates dividing stem cells. And it is TLR7 and TLR9 signaling that is divergent in monkey on pDC. You may need to add Russian Choice which produces interferon from macrophages if FIV disables pDC. Persistent virus infection inhibits IFN-a by pDC to faciliate opportunistic infections. Glycyrrhizin inhibits FIV replication in dendritic cells
If given HIV chimpanzees will also get AIDS. The strength of virus caused AIDS. One can reduce the strength of FIV virsus by creating mutations. Feline failed HIV drugs was undetectable on herbs.
Prednisolone inhibits phospholipase-A2 which releases arachidonic acid inhibits FIV 70-90%
WARNING: Overwhelming infection may occur as a complication of treatment with steroids; since this treatment reduces the body's ability to fight infection
In one case adding Resveratrol FIV positive turned negative and inhibited macrophages. This maybe because of macrophages which as few as 500 HIV-exposed macrophages causes 1) complete depletion of several millions of autologous CD4+ T lymphocytes 2) sustained HIV viremia 3) spreading of HIV-1 DNA in lymphoid organs
The immune system has the capacity to harm as well as to heal. Strengthening the immune system without regard to the consequences may increase the replication of the virus. This is the problem of many enhancing herbs such as Echinacea.
The best supplement for fighting AIDS, Glycyrrhizinate Forte by Jarrow has been discontinued. Whether Glycyron tablets will be available is not known.
Many veterinarians will use not use supplements or drugs for FIV. I think that with the new drugs it is now possible to make use of them. This is the case with Viread (PMPA), Lamivudine (3TC), and Abacavir (ABC). And has been used successfully with my help by two pet owners. One in Germany (www.poose.de) and one in United States (www.geocities.com/joelkehler).
Veterinary medical text books have interferon-alfa and AZT as treatment for FIV. AZT is harmful and creates anemia and interferon-alfa is too weak for dealing with FIV and mostly good for other infections maybe FeLV. In other words there is no conventional treatment for FIV presently. There is a FIV vaccine but is not favored by vets because of problem with antibodies created that interfer with basic tests given to identify FIV disease. Some vets say that it protects only type B but not type A. But this is not true.
In the area of FIV veterinarians have had virtually little or no success in treating this disease. Cats with full blown Feline AIDS have an average life expectancy of no more than six months to a year. Homeopathic veterinarians have been successful in treating animals that are not in the advanced stage of AIDS. Most of their treatment has simply been based on nutrition which has prolonged the life of the animal. Veterinarians have used steroids (Prednisolone) to reduce inflammation and wasting. These depress the immune system. This also suppresses the replication of FIV virus
I had three cats: one cat lasted two months after it was discovered with AIDS and had to be put to sleep after losing half its weight. One cat is FIV negative. It is my cat Blackie that was 15 years old when I started writing this essay that is infected with FIV that I treated.
Conventional medicine leaves cat owners looking to solve a problem and very little information available and little help from people in the medical field that treat cats. A need such as this should be filled somehow. I am not qualified to fill that need, but by default will make a layman attempt to do so since spending time on the subject. Time in learning about the subject is what most people do not have in this situation, as I myself found out in the case of my cat that died. I had to rely on information that was outdated and most times did not work. Each case of FIV is different.
I have been a systems analyst computer programmer for 40 years with 5 years hospital experience now retired in Arkansas. I was also a composer of classical music. I simply gather information and not a medical doctor trained to know anything about medical problems. And I know very little except from what I have read. My hospital or medical experience has been in the financial area.
FIV disease is a multifactorial process controlled by the complicated interplay of stimulatory and inhibitory factors concentrated in the lymphoid tissue, the centers of immune activity in the body
There are a number of targets that drug companies presently use to attack HIV virus during it cycle
1. HIV binding and cell entry point.
2. Reverse Transcription
3. Regulatory Proteins
4. HIV translation and protein assembly
5. Budding from cell
In 1999 HIV combo DDI/Hydrea used for FIV. Hydrea has been around for 30 years treating cancer. The newest combo presently for FIV is Viread, 3TC, and ABC. The first published study was written up by German lab of which I did the clinical research on. This study included Omega interferon. Dated 2004"
I use the following powder formula to treat my cat Blackie:
Maitake 600 mg............protects T-cells?
Shiitake 100mg 3.2% ks-2..Increase white blood cells
Garlic powder teaspoon...antibiotic
Grape Seed Tru-opc 75mg...Increase vitamin c cell level
Licorice Root 396mg ......Creates interferon
St John's Wort (Hypericin 3%) Blocks entry of FIV into cells
Alpha Lipoc Acid 50mg....Enhances vitamin c and e
NAC......................Suppress TNF (wasting)
Green Tea 400mg..........FIV reverse transcriptase
L-Glutamine..............muscle builder
L-Carnitine 250mg......... for wasting
Olive Leaf 250mg 6% Oleuropein...Heart, virus inhibition
Vitamin C 500mg..........Nutrient
HMB 250mg Potassium Phosphate 50mg..Muscle builder (wasting)
Sardines in tomato sauce...Contains Nucleic Acid (RNA, DNA) for healthier cells. This is included in diet.
My batch formula contains two capsules each except for vitamin C which includes four tablets. Licorice root I now use is by Jarrow. Garlic may instigate anemia when used long-term.
In clinical production of interferon following induction, IFN synthesis and secretion can first be detected after 2-3 hours, peaks by around 10 hours and continues for up to 20 hours. Near maximal accumulation of IFN is achieved by around 10-12 hours. For this reason it is a good idea to break formula up giving once in early morning and again in late evening. I also give Blackie after supper two capsules of Shiitake, half a capsule of Green tea and one tablet of Grape Seed
The formula I place in a teaspoon about half full and use my thumb and second finger in placing a pinch of formula in place. At this point rub it against the mouth. I find this to be the easiest method on myself and the cat
I have been treating my cat when I started writing this essay for about six months. The last month fully on the complete formula. I estimate the cost per year will be $600. This is not a cheap disease to treat
Most Protease inhibitors for HIV will not work for cats but TL-3 or Tipanavir will. A side effect most common is diarrhea. The usual herbs for dealing with diarrhea are Ginger, Black Walnut and Acidophilus.
PMPA is another drug that may be used on cats has been approved for use on humans by FDA. It was used experimentally on cats recently with good results. It is 100 times less toxic than AZT
To reconstruct the immune system that was destroyed by AIDS, use Colostrum which will help replace partly the immune system that was destroyed. Children and kittens just born do not have developed immune systems. They feed in the beginning from their mother breast. The fluid secreted from the breast of female is known as colostrum or mother's milk. It contains growth factors, hormones, enzymes, and other substances that are immune-protective
I decided to use "Vital Pet" has Procaine HCI 50mg, is anticortisol, inhibits MAO. Procaine breaks down into PABA and DEAE. PABA enhances the hormone cortisol. The drug is noted local anesthetic to block the conduction of nerve impulses. I will try one tablet placing the tablet with Shiitake, Green tea, Grape seed that is given once a day.
Giving my cat Blackie this supplement may slow the progression of FIV infection. In Europe this supplement is called "Gerovital H3" and has been used for 15 years.
After a few days I observed an anti-aging process in my cat which is what the supplement claims to do-of cause internally this is not the case.
Look to see Anticort (SP01A) a drug similar to Vitalpet test results in trials soon.
I found that VitalPet has side effects. Procaine causes allergy in cats. Procaine breaks down into PABA which has a high incidence of allergy. Although combined with Prednisolone 2mg it inhibited FIV. Alfred J. Plechner in his book "Pets at Risk" uses about 1.5mg of Prednisolone to treat FIV as a standard treatment. This is better than the current conventional treatments. Adding Pumpkin seed or colostrum will increase WBC cell counts.
VitalPet needs further research before use for feline. VitalPet increased red blood cells.
There is nothing about herbs that automatically makes them non-toxic just because they are natural. Medicinal herbs contain powerful, pharmacologically active compounds. They are drugs and should be approached with caution.
I have written this essay as a memorial to my cat Blackie. On May 23, 1998 my cat Blackie was killed by a coyote at night in North Dallas where I lived. Before this happened I modified his treatment to add one capsule of Olive Leaf in the morning and another in the evening with my formula. I did this after reading an article on Naltrexone and Olive Leaf treatment. At this point I had been treating Blackie for nine months. He lived to be fifteen and a half years old.
For another FIV treatment web site see: www.geocities.com/joelkehler There is also yahoo group fiv-healthscience
FIV infects the epithelial cells and the thymus gland gradually disintegrates. Folicular dendritic cells are in close contact with viral particles and this seems to destroy them. The loss of these cells may be disastrous as they play important roles in the immune system. A different type of dendritic cell involved in making T cells respond to infection also seems to suffer early damage. FIV is destroying other parts of the immune system long before the number of T cells starts to tumble.
Dendritic cells shown to strongly enhance FIV replication in T cells and thymic dendritic cells were found to support FIV replication. It is possible that dendritic differentiation and infection, in the immature compartment, also contributes to the inflammatory response. Such an inflammatory response, by favoring virus spreading, might lead to direct destruction of these cells and disruption of the cortical microenvironment (thymus cortex) and may contribute to an irreversible adverse effect on T-cell regeneration
Treatment strategy is to put FIV virus into a state of permanent latency and belong the life of the cat. The other strategy is to prevent the virus entry into the cell. From the studies I noted that on average it takes from 4 to 6 years for initial infection to advance to AIDS without treatment. HIV associated illnesses appears 4 to 6 years after infection which leads to death in less than 10 years
FIV is weaker and less complex than HIV. FIV orf2 has been postulated to encode a transcriptional transactivator. Transactivation of the FIV LTR by FIV proviruses has been shown to be weak and varied depending on the LTR, provirus, and cell type tested. Regulatory elements, including AP4, AP1, C/EBP, NF1 and ATF, are present in the FIV LTR also "NF-kB, TATA, Orf2 reported to exhibit functions similar to tat and vpr
The targeting by FIV of OX40(CD134) suggests that a selective advantage is acquired. This advantage might involve regulation of the immune response. CD134 is a T cell activation antigen and costimulatory molecule. CD134 is specifically up-regulated on CD4+ T cells that have been activated by treatment with IL-2. Infection is CXCR4-dependent, analogous to infection with X4 strains of HIV. Both feline and human lentiviruses uses receptors that target the virus to a subset of cells that are pivotal to the acquired immune response
FIV infection of the stroma alters normal hematopoietic function. By week 13 stromal cells to sustain the growth of uninfected bone marrow cells was decreased by 35-46% when compared to the suppernatant from uninfected stromal cells. Bone marrow suppression, reduced thymic output, and the loss of naive T cells produce reduced lymphoid regenerative capacity
Loss of stroma conceptually produces diminished production of a factor which stimulates hematopoiesis or increased production of a factor which inhibits hematopoiesis. Inhibitory cytokines TNF-a and IL-4 or stimulating IL-3, G-CSF, and c-kit ligand. In macrophages TGF-b suppressed
After cells are infected there are virus-specific mechanisms that disrupt the normal regulation of immune activation, and FIV can also become latent or infect immunoprivileged sites and remain hidden from the immune response. Functional defects and depletion of dendritic cells are common in FIV-infected, likely contributing to the progressive immunodeficiency
Patients with FIV infection exhibit deficits in bacterial and fungal clearance, and possibly depressed innate immunity. Using G-CSF may restore response. G-CSF also moves stem cells to the blood which may further regenerate and correct damage done to other areas. GM-CSF to simulate bone marrow use oleic and linoleic acid. AMD3100 (Mozobil, plerixofor)is now used instead of G-CSF
When pet owner goes to vet and takes ELISA test and finds cat has FIV it does not tell you what version it is. And whether it is slow progression version or your cat will be dead in a few weeks from fast progressing version. It may contains NF-kB or a version that does not contain this. The vet may give cat antibiotic to treat a secondary infection but no treatment for the FIV virus. With a veterinarian that does treat FIV they use low dose interferon-a. There are other options
There is not resistance problem when using supplement formula. This is because of the many targets against the FIV virus. Most veterinarians are not trained to use supplements and herbs so will not recommend their use. There are some exceptions to this. Some veterinarians are making use of Prednisolone which will slow the disease progression. There are herbs which have a similar action. This treatment is for the overactivation of T-cells and CCL2 (MCP-1) a proinflammatory chemokine induced in FIV infection. Some scientests believe that it is inflammation rather than any unique activity of HIV/FIV that makes it harmful. Though I was the first to have pet owner use three HIV drugs (NRTI's)to treat this disease. Text books contain using low dose interferon-alfa and AZT. Low dose Alferon N is a newer version of interferon-a which may give better results. It is hard to explain why Viread notlisted. New HIV standard in Europe they do not recommand using AZT
FIV dysregulation manifests both chronic immune suppression and chronic immune activation
On overactivation of T-cells: The T cell activation matters because of activation-induced cell death (AICD). A normal immune reaction starts with T cell proliferation. Once an invader is cleared, the reaction is self-limited by AICD - the suicide of most of the recently proliferating T cells. During FIV infection, however, the virus is not cleared and still remains visible to the immune system. Repeated cycles of activation lead to excessive proliferation and excessive AICD. The vast turnover of T cells eventually exhausts the immune system. But for SIV strains that down-regulated CD3, there was no activation and thus little cell death. The long-term goal will be to reduce AICD, by reducing the activation step
On inflammation: Anti-inflammatory therapy might reduce the damage to the lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are set up in a certain order to work correctly, and FIV can damage them and make them not work as well. Changes FIV causes in lymph nodes affect how well FIV medication works. Fibrosis in the gut may significantly affect the depletion of CD4+ T cells during FIV infection and their replenishment on initiation of antiretroviral therapy. Chronic inflammation contributes to failure of naive T cell homestasis
Inflammation also causes oxidative stress which in turn causes free radical especially reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that are produced in disease states. This causes reduced glutathione in FIV disease. Low glutathione-s-transferase a detoxification enzyme maybe the one of causes of lymphoma by FIV
Thymus participates in the establishment and maintenance of the antiviral immune response. The protection of the thymic compartment is of paramount importance. There is a role of the thymus in maintaining perpheral T-cell homeostasis.
Chronic activation of the immune system or the unrestricted viral replication interferes with the regenerative capacity of the thymus or bone marrow precursors. There is almost complete loss of thymocytes in AIDS
In the new Imulan( LTCIM) T-cell Immunomodulator drug for FIV (restrictive license), there is a need for FIV inhibitors to be used with it otherwise you end up with a dead cat. I don't see people getting thymus injections and dropping HIV drugs. Drug is not likely to have any good effect when there is strong activation of other viruses in FIV cat. Company increased the cost to $50 a dose from $15. Oral Thymic Protein A Longevity human study showed little change. But bring effector and suppresser in balance to prevent immune restoration disease. Drug is used for FIV and FeLV. On the other hand Lactoferrin increases counts similar to thymus extract but is an HIV(FIV) inhibitor, dampens overactivation and cost $20. This from a trail done on children. The anecdote results are mixed on cats for six months. One cat had hemobartonella which caused T-cells decrease. Drug is really a hormone replacement. It does not increase thymus mass which is what GH does but GH has some bad side effects. I use melatonin instead. (Thymic dyfunction is reversible with effective anti-retroviral therapy). Arginine can also increase mass. Lysine-arginine can increase release of Thymulin to normal levels and number of perpheral T cell subsets. Note high dose Vitamin B3 (nicotinamide) boosts neutrophil counts. Using LTCIM with interferon may work better than alone. Combination of Prednisolone, LTCIM, Omega Interferon, Elspar worked for FIV, FeLV cat.
Non-progressor maintain functioning thymus. Excess IFN-a damages thymus. Thymic output of naive T cells has emerged as a clear correlate of a good immunological response to treatment. Conversely, slow naive T cell repletion is associated with poor CD4 T cell count increases and a persistently elevated risk of clinical illness
Thymus Factor is similar to IL-2. CD4+ lymphocytes may regulate the production of all blood cell types in the bone marrow. Short-term anorexia maybe a side effect of this drug. Good idea to taper like glucocorticoids when stopping use
Bone marrow microenvironment, the cytokine mileu, and the number and the function of primitive hematopoietic elements in FIV disease; each of these has supportive evidence suggesting it as a mechanism in suppressing normal cell production. Alterations in stem cell number and function have been documented. In bone marrow there is the susceptiblity of the stromal layer to FIV infection which results in diminished hematopoietic output. The use of Oleic and linoleic acid may increase stem cell replication. I used pumpkin seed. Vitablue (NaturaCell) may increase stem cells in CNS
Colostrum will increase lymph counts but this may only be a temporary shift in wbc. Increase must be studied long-term to see if it is repairing the damage caused by the virus. In the case of lactoferrin it is the inhibition that causes the increase in counts as a shift takes place. As lymphs it moves from one part of body to the blood. The other shaft that may take place is between Gran and Lymph
Pet Dophilus by Jarrow I found interesting for treating intestinal health and wasting. It contains whey protein which increases IG's, Lacterferrin which inhibits virus entry. two proteins that inhibit intergase, probiotics and Metabolin which remainds me of Russian Choice immune supplement that has cell wall fragments that initiate the process for stimulating the body's natural immune response. It is likely to increase lymph counts and I found that it did in one cat that I used pet dophilus. Whey protein is somewhat similar to colostrum. Whey deals with glutathione deficiency, niacinamide with tryptophan deficiency that normally occurs with FIV
Another Jarrow supplement is Glycyrrhizinate Forte which is licorice root and most likely the most effective supplement for inhibiting the FIV virus. Rather than using Prednisolone I use this along with Bupleurum and Acetyl L-carnitine as likely to have less side effects. And I have used this on the two FIV cats I have carefully studies that I owned. Licorice root is one of the most studied supplements and Japanese have found good results in HIV
In FIV during chronic viral infections Treg cells are beneficial to the host by maintaining a balance between efficient viral defense and inflammation, while preventing the induction of autoimmunedisorders. Similar to other pathogens, certain viruses, like FIV, have developed mechanisms that directly affect Treg cell function, resulting in reduced antiviral response and increased viral persistence. In FIV Treg are the main CD4+ cells that are attacked and lost. In early attack the immune system still functions but as time goes on the system loses control. Treg are required to remove autoantibodies and their loss creates autoimmune disease where T-cells attack organs. Immune system with fewer command-and-control cells known as regulatory T cells make the system more likely to overreact or run wild. Which is why you see more cancer in advanced FIV than you would normally
Modern medicine lacks of good technology. Laboratory tests in immunology for finding out the condition of immune system are somewhat outdated. I have no way of knowing dysregulation or dendritic cell counts in BM. Whether ELISPOT is available for clinical work and CMI test is not normally done. The only thing availabile for clinical work is CD4+ count. When you get a CD4+ T-cell count it is not broken down between effector and suppressor cells, so you do not know the true condition of the immune system. It is likely that the FIV disease is also an autoimmune disease when an imbalance in suppressor and effector takes place. This will in time led to disease such as diabetes or cancer even with inhibition of virus as the autoantibodies are created. I would expect these diseases to take place more than normal even with treatment as the cat ages unless the immune system is near normal. Treatment only stops progression but does not correct the damage to immune system from the little experience I have had. Present lab tests will not really give the information needed to know the true condition of immune system and the problem of autoantibodies. There maybe some autoantibody ELISA tests but they are not normally given. And there is always the cost problem with different tests given. Flow cytometry is available for clinical purposes. These tests are used more in the area of research than maintaining cat health. When it comes to autoantibodies in the study of cancer they don't exist. The study of mutated stem cells is just starting in cancer. These problems occur in both HIV and FIV. Aging with this virus is still a problem but life can be extented with treatment even if it is not normal in either HIV or FIV. If I had to choice FIV would do better as it is a weaker virus and reduces life less for a cat than HIV for a human. There is little toxicity and no resistance with the current FIV treatment. There is a FIV vaccine
See on Google the following for Treg......"test", "FIV", "Treg" Can't say that I fully understand the subject and how to correct imbalances which cause immunosuppression or whether it is possible to undo damage caused by virus. Treatment simply stops the progression to AIDS or returns it to pre-AIDS in some cases
Central memory CD4+ T cell responses in chronic FIV infection are not restored by antiretroviral therapy. This is the same with HIV. Memory T cells are functionally and phenotypically divided into central memory and effector memory T cells. TEM have immediate effector functions, and appear to be short-lived. TCM are long-lived, quiescent and multipotent
Long-term maintenance of TCM is dependent on their capacity to trigger cell survival pathways and to shutdown/neutralize pro-apoptotic molecules. Failure to proficiently generate and maintain TCM might lead to inefficient immune response to chronic infectious disease such as FIV infection and further might be responsible for the inefficacy of certain vaccine and therapies (FIV).
IL-2 may have some positive affect as this creates phosphorylated FOXO3a where as unplosphorylated FOXO3a initiates transcription of pro-apoptotic genes. Adding herbs that produce IL-2 to FIV inhibitors will maintain TCM.
FIV infection impairs the IL-17 axis, an arm of the mucosal immune response preventing systemic microbial dissemination from the gastrointestinal tract. FIV-infected develop a life-threatening bacteremia. Th17 cells are specific for bacterial and fungal antigens, but not common viral antigens they are preferentially depleted within the first weeks of infection and their frequency is not restored to normal level over time. Because Th17 cells play a central role in innate and adaptive immune response to extracellular bacteria, these data provide a rational explanation for the chronic enteropathy (disease of the intestine) in FIV infection. Th17 acts to preserve the integrity of the mucosal barrier thus enhancing host defenses against microbial agents, maintenance of robust Th17 function in mucosal tissue may decrease systemic inflammation and disease progression by preventing the immune activation that would otherwise occur after microbial translocation and spread. The loss of Th17 shows up as immune overactivation in FIV and HIV also creates dysregulation of Th17/Treg balance. Compromised thymic function maybe also involved in this problem. Decreased naive T cell numbers is associated with microbial translocation
In a healthy immune system, inflammation-suppressing regulatory T cells and inflammation-stimulating T helper 17 cells stay in a healthy balance. Too many regulatory T (Treg) cells may cause a vulnerability to tumors or infection, and too much T helper 17 (Th17), a tendendy toward autoimmunity.
Note suppressor CD8+ T cells contribute to immune dysfunction in HIV-1.
Treating FIV cat with supplements should work. Loss of Th17 cells first 17 days cause some problems. A form of vitamin A may create Th17. The secret to treating FIV or HIV besides inhibiting the virus is to keep a balance between Th17/Treg. Another thing noted is memory B-cell abnormalities persist with effective antiretroviral therapy. HIV gradually depletes the numbers of healthy, functional B cells. Individuals who had high levels of HIV in their blood had lots of B cells, but they failed to replicate normally or to produce high-quality antibodies. It seems T and B lymphocytes use a common transcriptional program during memory development that is disrupted in chronic viral infection. Patients will continue to have immunodeficiency. Use colosturm or whey protein for Th17 cell gap. Herb Continuation section has info on immune restoration. Turn to summary section for FIV treatment.
Arthur Gittleman artg@spe
