Efficacy of 10-Injection Induced Modified Rush Immunotherapy in Dogs with Atopic Dermatitis

Modified rush immunotherapy (IT), by combination of rush IT and conventional IT, provides a faster method to reach maintenance dose, leading to higher patient adherence when compared with conventional IT, decreasing systemic adverse reactions when compared with a standard rush IT. Ten atopic dogs of this study include fulfillment of Favrot's criteria. Offending allergens were identified by the use of IDST. During the induction period, the dogs were received a total of 10 injections. Five injections were administrated every 30 minutes in a day with gradually increasing amounts and concentrations of allergens, and the last 5 injections were administered every 3 days. The efficacy of 10-injection induced mRIT was assessed using the canine atopic dermatitis extent and severity index (CADESI). During maintenance period, reduction rate from baseline scores varied between 3.2% and 60.9% and the after 6 months of therapy for CADESI-03 score in 6 of the 10 dogs. Adverse reactions were not observed in these dogs during induction period by mRIT with 10 injections. Based on these results, our modified rush IT protocol is considered to be a useful protocol to treat canine atopic dermatitis.