No effect of a single intravenous sodium iodide treatment on airway mucus accumulation and inflammation in coughing horses in a double-blind placebo controlled study.

摘要

There are anecdotal reports of a beneficial effect of intravenous sodium iodide on airway mucus accumulation and inflammation in coughing horses. To our knowledge no controlled studies exist, however. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that a single treatment with intravenous sodium iodide decreases airway mucus accumulation and inflammation in coughing horses. Horses with nasal discharge, endoscopically visible excess mucus accumulation in the trachea and a persistent cough of more than 2 weeks duration received one intravenous treatment of either saline placebo or sodium iodide. Response to treatment was monitored by comparing clinical signs, endoscopic mucus scores and cytology of tracheo-bronchial aspirate (TBA) at baseline to day 4 from the start of the trial. In both treatment groups decreases of tracheal mucus amounts (p=0.0056) and of neutrophils in TBA (p=0.034) were observed, but sodium iodide compared to placebo had no significant short-term effect on airway mucus accumulation and inflammation.