title: Voluntary acceptance and consumption of two oral ciclosporin formulations in dogs: two randomised, controlled studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common canine allergic skin disease and can significantly affect the quality of life of affected dogs. Treating canine AD with ciclosporin has been a subject of great interest in recent years. Many studies have provided substantial evidence of ciclosporin efficacy and safety in canine AD management, and for several years ciclosporin has been recognised as a major component of canine AD multimodal therapy. As a chronic condition, canine AD requires life-long medical management and treatment success relies in large part on product ease of administration. Two studies were conducted to assess the comparative voluntary acceptance and consumption of Cyclavance® (Virbac), a new oral liquid formulation of ciclosporin, and Atopica® (Novartis) either added to a small quantity of kibbles (study 1) or administered directly into the dog's mouth (study 2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over the course of the two studies 70 dogs assessed each of the ciclosporin formulations and 320 individual tests were performed for each tested product. Immediate prehension (in less than 2 seconds) occurred significantly more often with Cyclavance® (90.6% of the tests) than with Atopica® (14.4% of the tests) when products were mixed with 30 grams of dry food (p < 0.001). Moreover, Cyclavance® was significantly more often easily accepted than Atopica® (99.3% vs 27.1% of the tests, respectively) when products were administered directly into the dogs' mouth (p < 0.0001). Cyclavance® was also more often totally consumed (98.3% of the tests) than Atopica® (2.2% of the tests) when mixed with a small amount of food (p < 0.001). However, both products were totally consumed once administered directly into the dogs' mouth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By facilitating cicloporin administration and consumption, Cyclavance® liquid formulation offers an interesting alternative to capsules that may improve dosing compliance and therefore the ability to benefit from the therapeutic effects in the long-term treatment of canine AD.
authors.affiliation: Medical department, Virbac, 13ème rue LID, 06515 Carros, France.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.affiliation: R&D, Virbac, 13ème rue LID, 06515 Carros, France.
authors.forename: Nolwenn
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Crastes
authors.affiliation: R&D, Virbac, 13ème rue LID, 06515 Carros, France.
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Benizeau
authors.affiliation: Medical department, Virbac, 13ème rue LID, 06515 Carros, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McGahie
keywords: Atopic dermatitis; Ciclosporin; Compliance; Consumption; Dog; Intake; Prehension; Voluntary acceptance