Immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive drug protocols in the treatment of canine primary immune thrombocytopenia, a scoping review

Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a cause of severe thrombocytopenia in dogs. Immunosuppressive corticosteroid drugs are frequently used in the management of ITP, but treatment failure may occur. Immunomodulatory and non-corticosteroid immunosuppressive drugs might improve outcomes from therapy either alone or in combination with corticosteroids. The objectives of this scoping review were (1) to evaluate the current evidence relating to immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive drug protocols in the treatment of canine ITP, and (2) to answer the clinical question, whether or not therapy with immunomodulatory or non-corticosteroid immunosuppressive drugs alone or in combination with corticosteroids could improve outcome, compared to therapy with corticosteroids alone. A literature search was performed in the electronic databases of Agricola, CAB Abstracts, Embase, Medline and Web of Science for publications in November 2019 and again February 1, 2021. Selection criteria were relatively strict and included peer-reviewed research papers reporting outcome measures from immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive drug protocols in the treatment of canine ITP with a pre-therapeutic mean or median platelet count < 50,000/µL as a strict criterion for inclusion. Studies were evaluated if they had an appropriate diagnostic work up to exclude underlying conditions. Outcome measures and adverse events were compared between drug protocols both within studies and between studies. The search identified 456 studies, with six studies being eligible for inclusion. The studies were mostly case series while two were randomized controlled trials. Level of evidence varied with an overall uncertain subject enrollment, small groups, inadequate description and variable use of drug protocols or outcome measures. For outcomes such as platelet recovery time and duration of hospitalization, an improvement was observed using adjunctive therapy (human intravenous immunoglobulin) compared to therapy with corticosteroids alone. For outcomes of complete platelet recovery time, survival (6-month), mortality and relapse, no improvement was observed using adjunctive drugs compared to corticosteroids alone. Specifically, therapy with mycophenolate mofetil alone and adjunctive azathioprine were associated with more severe adverse events compared to other drug protocols. Evidence relating to immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive drug protocols in the treatment of canine ITP was of variable quality. Future larger case-controlled trials are required for determination of optimal treatment protocols in canine ITP. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13028-021-00620-z.