A composition is provided for the treatment of contagious equine metritis, a contagious veneral disease of horses, which composition comprises an aqueous solution of dextrose, a buffering mixture to provide a pH of about 3.0 to 4.5, and a carrier, the composition being applied topically to external genitalia of horses

Swerczek, Thomas W.

English

University of Kentucky

University of KentuckyUKnowledgeVeterinary Science Faculty Patents Veterinary Science11-20-1984Treatment for Contagious Equine MetritisThomas W. SwerczekUniversity of Kentucky, twswer1@uky.eduRight click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits you.Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gluck_patentsPart of the Veterinary Medicine CommonsThis Patent is brought to you for free and open access by the Veterinary Science at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in VeterinaryScience Faculty Patents by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu.Recommended CitationSwerczek, Thomas W., "Treatment for Contagious Equine Metritis" (1984). Veterinary Science Faculty Patents. 12.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gluck_patents/12United States Patent [191 I [11] Patent Number: 4,483,851 Swerczek [45] Date of Patent: Nov. 20, 1984 [54] TREATMENT FOR CONTAGIOUS EQUINE METRITIS OTHER PUBLICATIONS . - Swaney et 211., American Journal of Veterinary Re [75] Inventor. gomas W. Swerczek, Lexlngton, Search, vol. 41’ Jan’, 1980, pp. 127432 _ ' _ _ John P. Hughes, Theriogenology, Dec. 8, 1978. [73] Asslgneei The umYel‘slty of Kentucky Research Henry J. Dabernat et a1., Antimicrobial Agents and ' Foundatwn, Lexmgton» KY~ Chemotherapy, Dec., 1980, pp. 841-843. [21] App1_ No_; 409,130 S. P. Sahu et a1., American Journal of Veterinary Re , search, v01. 1, pp. 1379-1382. [22] Flled: Aug. 18, 1982 P _ E _ J hn _ R B rzmary xammer- ov me . rown Céi3 ............................................ .. 11612221433 Assistant Examiner_Eui Peselev .. . .................................................. .. ’ t’ F. _L ,K. ,P. B [58] Field of Search ....................................... .. 424/180 Attorney Age” 0' "m mg "Ce & ecker 57 ABST [56] References Cited L 1 . _ _ _d d f h f composition 1s prov1 e or t e treatment 0 conta U'S' PATENT DOCUMENTS gious equine metritis, a contagious veneral disease of 327,230 9/ 1835 cémrick - horses, which composition comprises an aqueous solu 2,113,566 5/ 1938 MlleS ..- ................................. .. 167/96 tion of dextrose’ a buffering mixture to provide a pH of Exam """""""""""""" " about 3.0 to 4.5, and a carrier, the composition being 2:826:533 3/1958 FOWe11'IIIIII .................... .. 167/74 applied tOpiwlly ‘0 external genitalia 0f horses 2,895,882 7/1959 Thorne et a1. ...................... .. 195/96 4,083,958 4/1978 Bryans ................................ .. 424/89 14 Claims, No Drawings 4,483,851 1 TREATMENT FOR CONTAGIOUS EQUINE METRITIS FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to methods for the treatment of contagious equine metritis and more particularly to novel compositions useful for the treatment of conta gious equine metritis by topical application. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Contagious equine metritis (CEM) is a highly conta gious venereal disease of horses caused by a fastidious, gram-negative cocobacillus. The disease is character ized by a copious water-to-mucopurulent vaginal dis charge 2-10 days after breeding by an infected stallion. Shortened estrous cycle links are common and may be the only indication of endometritis in some instances. Carriers of the disease are dif?cult to detect but out breaks of the disease have been reported in England, Ireland, France, Australia and in the United States. As reported by Swaney et a1, American Journal of Veteri nary Research, Vol. 41, January, 1980, pps. 127-132, the causative agent of contagious equine metritis has been identi?ed as Haemophilus equigenitalis, which has ultra structural characteristics of gram-negative bacteria. The Haemophilus equigenitalis is microaerophilic and unreactive biochemically. It does not depend on hemin (X factor) or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (V I factor) for growth although hemin stimulates growth. Various proposals have been made for treatment of the disease with modest success. Thus, in the article by Swaney et a1, there is disclosure that streptomycin can be used against the bacteria. Further, in the article by ‘ John P. Hughes in Theriogenology, published Dec. 8, 1978, it is reported that a wide range of antibiotic and antimicrobial agents have been used either topically, parenterally or in combination at varying dose rates and over different periods of time. Included are suggestions for the use of intrauterine antiseptic solutions, washing with surgical soap, rinsing and applying 0.3% nitrofura zone ointments and the like but the most common treat ment is indicated as being the intrauterine infusion of benzyl penicillin or ampicillin‘ for a period of 3 to 5 days. ' ' In the article by Henry J. Dabemat' et al in Antimi crobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 1980, pps. 841-843, a review of this disease is‘disclosed with the statement that the most active‘drugs are ampicillin, gentamicin, and tetracycline, although a number of other materials were tested with negative results. In an article by S. P. Sahu et al appearing in American Jour nal of Veterinary Research, Vol. 41, September 1980, pps. 1379-1382, there'is described a review of the dis ease and the use of a citrate-phosphate buffer for a sugar compound to isolate and identify the bacteria but not as a method of treatment. ‘ It is evident from this literature that there remains a need in the art for a simple, effective method for the treatment of animals infected with this disease and the present invention provides compositions and methods which are effective for this purpose. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide a composition which is effective for the treatment of contagious equine metritis. 10 40 45 55 65 2 A further object of the invention is to provide a method for the treatment of contagious equine metritis. A still further object of the present invention is to provide a topical composition and methods for its use in the treatment of contagious equine metritis in horses. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as th description thereof proceeds. ' In satisfaction of the foregoing objects and advan tages there is provided by this invention a composition for the treatment of contagious equine metritis which comprises an aqueous solution of dextrose or a dextrose metabolite, a buffering mixture of weak organic acids and alkali metal salts of weak organic acids, and a car rier, the composition being characterized as a viscous solution having a pH of about 3.0 to 4.5. Also provided by the present invention is a method for application of this composition to horses for the treatment of conta gious equine metritis which comprises topically apply ing an effective amount of the composition to the exter nal genitalia of stallions and mares. Description of Preferred Embodiments As pointed out above, the present invention is con cerned with novel compositions and a method for the treatment of ‘contagious equine metritis, which is a rela tively newly recognized venereal disease in horses, the causative organism being Haemophilus equigenitalis. The disease is wide-spread throughout the world and has also been found to be present in horses in the United States. While there are treatments available for- the disease as discussed above, primarily ‘by antibiotics, these treatments‘ cause irritation to the mucous mem branes. Super bacterial infections, primarily pseudomo nas infections, are commonly the end results of the prior art treatment. The present invention provides a novel composition of matter which can be applied topically without the disadvantages and side effects of the prior art treat ments. The composition of the present invention in its broadest embodiment comprises an aqueous solution of dextrose or a dextrose metabolite, a buffering mixture of weak organic acids and/or alkali metal salts of weak organic acids, and a carrier, the solution being charac terized as a relatively viscous solution having a pH ranging from about 3.0 to 4.5. In several trials the composition was found to be 100% effective in curing horses of the disease if used on three successive days. By comparison antibiotics cur rently used have to be applied for at least 5 days and are not 100% effective. The most preferred composition may be character ized as containing the following formulation in water in a concentration of about 40-60 weight percent: Ingredient Parts by Weight Dextrose 200-300 Buffering Mixture 40-110 Carrier 80-1 10 The dextrose component of the composition is dex trose or a dextrose metabolite which is effective to inhibit the contagious equine metritis organism. The dextrose component is an important ingredient as 'it appears that the dextrose or a metabolite of dextrose inhibits the contagious equine metritis organism. vAc 4,483, 3 cordingly, dextrose or equivalent material may be used in the composition. The buffering mixture is also an important ingredient of the composition. A suf?cient amount of buffer should be present to provide a resulting solution having a pH of 5 about 3.0 to 4.5, most preferably in the range of 3.2. Any buffer or mixture of buffers can be used for this purpose although mixtures of weak organic acids and alkali metal salts of organic acids are especially preferred. The amount of buffering agent present is also important since the total solution should contain about 8 to 15 weight percent of buffering agents for a suitable compo sition. The preferred buffering agents are polycarboxylic acids, phosphates, and the like which will provide the required pH range. The most preferred buffers however comprise a mixture of hydroxy polycarboxylic acids having about 3 to 8 carbon atoms and their alkali metal salts, or mixtures thereof. Preferred organic acids in clude citric acid, malic acid, tartronic acid, tartaric acid, and mixtures thereof as well as the sodium and potas sium salts of the acid. A highly preferred buffering system comprises a mixture of citric acid and sodium citrate. . . It is also preferred that the resulting solution be a viscous solution to inhibit drainage from the infected organs after topical application. Thus, a carrier vehicle is included in the composition to increase the viscosity of the solution. Suitable carries include polyalkylene glycols, methyl cellulose and the like. The preferred carrier vehicle is a lower polyalkylene glycol such as glycerine. The carrier also provides the proper consistency to the composition so that the composition can be used as a lubricant in the treatment of animals such as horses. Thus, the composition will provide both lubricating properties and effectively treat contagious equine metri tis on application to horses. A preferred formulation is a 401-60 weight percent aqueous composition of the following materials: 15 20 25 5 40 Amount-Parts Ingredient Dextrose 200-300 45 Hydroxy carboxylic acid 25-75 Alkali metal salt of 40—1l0 Hydroxy carboxylic acid Carrier 80-110 The most preferred composition for use in the present invention is as follows: Ingredient Amount Dextrose 250 grams 55 Citric Acid 50 grams Sodium Citrate 25 grams Glycerine 100 ccs. Water 400 ccs. The resulting composition is in an aqueous solution with suf?cient consistency to drain slowly. In use the composition is applied topically directly to the external genitalia of stallions and mares and preferably is used one time each day for at least two successive days. An 65 effective amount is simply a thorough application of the viscous solution to the external genitalia manually. It has been found that this method will provide 100% 85 l 4 effectiveness in curing horses of the contagious equine metritis ' organism-caused disease. The following example is to illustrate the invention but the invention is not to be considered as limited thereto. In the Example and throughout the speci?ca tion, parts are by weight unless otherwise indicated. EXAMPLE The following composition was prepared: Ingredient Parts by Weight Dextrose 250 grams Citric Acid 50 grams Sodium Citrate, 25 grams Glycerine 100 ccs. Water 400 ccs. The resulting composition was a viscous solution having a pH of 3.20. . To show the effectiveness of the compound twenty , horses were selected for testing. Each of the twenty horses was treated with a single treatment of the solu tion by manually applying topically directly to the ex, ternal genitalia of the horses. From this test, 17 of the horses were found to be cured by the single treatment. The three horses which were not cured with the single, treatment were then treated again with two successive: treatments which were found to successfully cure the disease. Accordingly, in the ?eld . it is recommended that the disease be treated one time per day with appli-, cation of the composition on at least two successive days. ' . . The advantages in use of the composition of the pres ent invention in the treatment of contagious equine metritis over current therapy and the antibiotics used in the prior art are several. Thus, the horses do not have to ‘ be scrubbed prior to treatment, the treatment does not irritate the mucous membranes and the skin, and the treatment does not cause super bacterial infections. Moreover, the treatment is effective for pseudomonas as well as for the contagious equine metritis organism. Moreover, only about two to three treatments'are nec essary and mares-can be treated successfully without. removing the clitoral sinuses. I . , The invention has been described herein with refer ence to certain preferred embodiments. However, as obvious variations thereon will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not to be consid ered as limited thereto. ' What is claimed is: . 1. A composition for_ the treatment of contagious equine metritis which comprises an antimicrobial-effec tive amount of dextrose in an aqueous based mixture including a buffer present in sufficient amounts to pro vide a pH in the range of about 3.0 to 4.5, and a carrier, said composition comprising the following: 200 to 300 parts by weight of dextrose, 40 to 110 parts by weight of buffer, and 80 to 110 parts by weight of a carrier, con tained in about a 40 to 60 weight percent concentration in water. _ 2. A composition according to claim 1 which com prises about 200-300 parts of dextrose, about 25-75 parts of a hydroxy carboxylic acid, about 40-110 parts of an alkali‘ metal salt of a-hydroxy carboxylic'acid and about 80-110 parts of a carrier. 3. A composition according to claim 2 wherein the hydroxy polycarboxylic acid component is selected 4,483,851 5 from the group consisting of citric acid, tartronic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and mixtures thereof. 4. A composition according to claim 2 wherein the alkali metal salt of the hydroxy polycarboxylic acid is selected from the group consisting of sodium and potas sium salts of citric acid, tartronic acid, malic acid, tar taric acid, and mixtures thereof. 5. A composition according to claim 2 wherein the carrier is a polyalkylene glycol. 6. A composition according to claim 1 which com prises 250 parts dextrose, 50 parts citric acid, 25 parts sodium citrate, 100 ccs. glycerine and 400 005. water, said composition being in the form of a viscous solution hving a pH in the range of 3.2. 7. A method for the treatment of contagious equine metritis in horses which comprises topical application to the external genitalia of horses of an antimicrobial effective amount of dextrose in an aqueous based mix ture including a buffer present in sufficient amounts to provide a pH in the range of about 3.0 to 4.5, and a carrier. 8. A method according to claim 7 wherein the com ponents of the composition are contained in about a 40-60 weight percent concentration in water and are present in the following amounts by weight: Ingredient Parts by Weight Dextrose 200-300 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 60 65 -continued Ingredient Parts by Weight Buffer 40-110 Carrier 80-1 10. 9. A method according to claim 8 wherein the com‘ position comprises about 200-300 parts of dextrose, about 25-75 parts of a hydroxy carboxylic acid, about 40-110 parts of an alkali metal salt of a hydroxy carbox ylic acid and about 80~ll0 parts of a carrier. 10. A method according to claim 9 wherein the hy droxy polycarboxylic acid component is selected from the group consisting of citric acid, tartronic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and mixtures thereof. 11. A method according to claim 9 wherein the alkali metal salt of the hydroxy polycarboxylic acid is selected from the group consisting of sodium and potassium salts of citric acid, tartronic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and mixtures thereof. 12. A method according to claim 9 wherein the car rier is a polyalkylene glycol. 13. A method according to claim 7 wherein the com position comprises 250 parts dextrose, 50 parts citric acid, 25 parts sodium citrate, 100 ccs. glycerine and 400 ccs. water, said composition being in the form ‘of a vis cous solution having a pH in the range of 3.2. 14. A method according to claim 7 wherein the com position is topically applied to the external genitalia of the horses one time per day for at least two successive days. * t * * * 

Treatment for Contagious Equine Metritis

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Treatment for Contagious Equine Metritis

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