New hope for cats with eye infections: Study finds common cold sore cream safe and effective for feline use

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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Successful Recovery: Cats Treated with Fenlips Cream after FHV-1 Infection”

 

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Credit: Koret School of Veterinary Medicine

A common human cold sore cream may soon help cats with painful eye infections: researchers found that 1% penciclovir cream (Fenlips®), when applied to cats’ eyes, was safe, well-tolerated, and maintained antiviral levels for over eight hours—suggesting that twice-daily use could effectively manage feline herpesvirus type 1, a leading cause of eye disease in cats.

 

A cream originally developed for human cold sores may soon become a game-changer for cats battling eye infections. Researchers from the have found that a 1% penciclovir cream (sold under the brand name Fenlips®) is safe, well-tolerated, and effective when used to treat eye infections caused by feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1).

 

FHV-1 is one of the most common causes of eye disease in cats, often leading to chronic infections, discomfort, and vision problems. Standard antiviral treatments, such as oral famciclovir, can be difficult for owners to administer and have limited absorption in cats.

 

A new study led by Dr. Oren Pe’er, together with Dr. Lionel Sebbag and Prof. Ron Ofri from the Ophthalmology Department at the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University, in collaboration with Prof. Sara Thomasy and her team at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, demonstrates that a topical cream commonly used in human dermatology may be safely repurposed for treating feline herpesvirus (FHV-1) eye infections.

 

The findings highlight an innovative, practical treatment approach that could simplify therapy for cat owners and improve outcomes in one of the most common feline eye diseases.

“Our findings suggest that a simple over-the-counter cream could offer an easier, effective option for cat owners struggling to manage recurrent eye infections,” said Dr Pe’er

In a retrospective survey, most cat owners reported excellent tolerance and visible improvement when using Fenlips®, with 85% noting no side effects and 80% rating the treatment as effective or highly effective. To confirm safety and effectiveness, the researchers conducted additional studies in healthy cats over a month-long period. No adverse reactions were observed, and tear tests showed that penciclovir levels stayed above the concentration needed to inhibit the herpesvirus for over eight hours after application.

“This means twice-daily application could be enough to keep the virus in check,” “It’s a major step toward improving both animal welfare and treatment compliance.”

The findings, published in Veterinary Science, provide early evidence that Fenlips® may be a promising new option for veterinarians treating FHV-1-related eye disease. The researchers emphasize that while the results are encouraging, further studies in larger patient populations are needed before the treatment can be formally approved for ophthalmic use in cats.

The findings, published in Veterinary Science, add to previous study by the team demonstrating the efficacy of Fenlips® in reducing clinical signs associated with feline herpesvirus infection, and provide early evidence that Fenlips® may be a promising new option for veterinarians treating FHV-1–related eye disease. The researchers emphasize that while the results are encouraging, further studies in larger patient populations are needed before the treatment can be formally approved for ophthalmic use in cats.

Successful Recovery: Cats Treated with Fenlips Cream after FHV-1 Infection

Credit

Koret School of Veterinary Medicine

Journal

Research in Veterinary Science

DOI

10.1016/j.rvsc.2025.105909 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Ocular tolerance and tear film pharmacokinetics of 1 % penciclovir cream in cats

 

How to make ‘smart city’ technologies behave ethically

North Carolina State University

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As local governments adopt new technologies that automate many aspects of city services, there is an increased likelihood of tension between the ethics and expectations of citizens and the behavior of these “smart city” tools. Researchers are proposing an approach that will allow policymakers and technology developers to better align the values programmed into smart city technologies with the ethics of the people who will be interacting with them.

“Our work here lays out a blueprint for how we can both establish what an AI-driven technology’s values should be and actually program those values into the relevant AI systems,” says Veljko Dubljević, corresponding author of a paper on the work and Joseph D. Moore Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University.

At issue are smart cities, a catch-all term that covers a variety of technological and administrative practices that have emerged in cities in recent decades. Examples include automated technologies that dispatch law enforcement when they detect possible gunfire, or technologies that use automated sensors to monitor pedestrian and auto traffic to control everything from street lights to traffic signals.

“These technologies can pose significant ethical questions,” says Dubljević, who is part of the Science, Technology & Society program at NC State.

“For example, if AI technology presumes it detected a gunshot and sends a SWAT team to a place of business, but the noise was actually something else, is that reasonable?” Dubljević asks. “Who decides to what extent people should be tracked or surveilled by smart city technologies? Which behaviors should mark someone out as an individual who should be under escalated surveillance? These are reasonable questions, and at the moment there is no agreed upon procedure for answering them. And there is definitely not a clear procedure for how we should train AI to answer these questions.”

To address this challenge, the researchers looked to something called the Agent Deed Consequence (ADC) model. The ADC model holds that people take three things into account when making a moral judgment: the agent, which is the character or intent of the person who is doing something; the deed, or what is being done; and the consequence, or the outcome that results from the deed.

In their paper, the researchers demonstrate that the ADC model can be used to not only capture how humans make value judgments and ethical decisions, but can do so in a way that can be programmed into an AI system. This is possible because the ADC model uses deontic logic, which is a type of imperative logic.

“It allows us to capture not only what is true, but what should be done,” says Daniel Shussett, first author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher at NC State. “This is important because it drives action, and can be used by an AI system to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate orders or requests.”

“For example, if an AI system is tasked with managing traffic and an ambulance with flashing emergency lights approaches a traffic light, this may be a signal to the AI that the ambulance should have priority and alter traffic signals to help it travel quickly,” says Dubljević. “That would be a legitimate request. But if a random vehicle puts flashing lights on its roof in an attempt to get through traffic more quickly, that would be an illegitimate request and the AI should not give them a green light.

“With humans, it is possible to explain things in a way where people learn what should and shouldn’t be done, but that doesn’t work with computers. Instead, you have to be able to create a mathematical formula that represents the chain of reasoning. The ADC model allows us to create that formula.”

“These emerging smart city technologies are being adopted around the world, and the work we’ve done here suggests the ADC model can be used to address the full scope of ethical questions these technologies pose,” says Shussett. “The next step is to test a variety of scenarios across multiple technologies in simulations to ensure the model works in a consistent, predictable way. If it passes those tests, it would be ready for testing in real-world settings.”

The paper, “Applying the Agent-Deed-Consequence (ADC) Model to Smart City Ethics,” is published open access in the journal Algorithms.

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number 2043612.

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Journal

Algorithms

DOI

10.3390/a18100625 

Method of Research

Commentary/editorial

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Applying the Agent-Deed-Consequence (ADC) Model to Smart City Ethics

 

Ultra-endurance athletes test the metabolic limits of the human body

Cell Press

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Researchers tracked ultra-runner Joe McConaughey at the 2022 Cocodona 250 ultramarathon to measure how much energy the human body can burn during extreme endurance event.

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Credit: Howie Stern

When ultra-runners lace up for races that stretch hundreds of miles and days, they’re not merely testing their mental grit and muscle strength—they’re probing the limits of human biology. Reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 20, researchers found that even the most extreme athletes cannot surpass an average “metabolic ceiling” of 2.5 times their basal metabolic rate (BMR) in energy expenditure. 

The metabolic ceiling represents the maximum number of calories a body can burn. Previous research suggested that people can burn up to 10 times their BMR, or the minimum energy required while at rest, for short bursts.  

“Every living thing has a metabolic ceiling, but exactly what that number is, and what constrains it, is the question,” says lead author and anthropologist Andrew Best of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, who is also an endurance athlete. 

“To find out, we asked, if we get a group of really competitive ultra-athletes, can they break this proposed metabolic ceiling?”  

The researchers recruited 14 ultra-runners, cyclists, and triathletes and tracked them during competitions and training periods. To allow the researchers to measure energy expenditure, participants drank water containing deuterium and oxygen-18—slightly heavier versions of hydrogen and oxygen. By tracing these molecules when flushed out in urine, the scientists were able to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide an athlete exhales and the number of calories burned. 

During multi-day races, some athletes burned six to seven times their BMR, around 7,000 to 8,000 calories a day. But when the team calculated the athletes’ caloric burn over longer periods—30 and 52 weeks—their burn rates mostly returned to the predicted ceiling, averaging around 2.4 times their BMR. These results show that even the most extreme athletes reach a metabolic ceiling, and exceeding the limit proves exceptionally difficult, say the researchers. 

“If you go over the ceiling for short periods, that’s fine. You can make up for it later,” says Best. “But long term, it’s unsustainable because your body will start to break down its tissue, and you’ll shrink.” 

The study also revealed how the body copes with these extreme endurance activities. As athletes devoted more energy to running, cycling, and swimming, they unconsciously cut back on using energy elsewhere.  

“Your brain has a really powerful influence on how much you fidget, how much you want to move, and how encouraged you are to take a nap,” says Best. “All these fatigues we feel save calories.” 

The team noted that the results depended heavily on the individual bodies of the athletes who were recruited. Some exceptional individuals capable of exceeding the ceiling may have been missed. While their findings may have implications for an athlete’s performance, they also encourage researchers to investigate how the body’s energy cap can shape other essential functions. 

“For most of us, we’re never going to reach this metabolic ceiling,” says Best. “It takes running about 11 miles on average a day for a year to achieve 2.5 times BMR. Most people, including me, would get injured before any sort of energetic limit comes into play.” 

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Study participant Joe McConaughey en route to a speed record on the Arizona Trail in 2021.

Credit

Michael Dillon

This work was supported by funding from Duke University and a Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Faculty Incentive Award.  

Current Biology, Best et al., “Ultra-endurance athletes and the metabolic ceiling” https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01129-7

Current Biology (@CurrentBiology), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists. Visit: http://www.cell.com/current-biology. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com. 

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Journal

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2025.08.063 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Ultra-endurance athletes and the metabolic ceiling

Article Publication Date

20-Oct-2025