'Comparative Medicine' includes spontaneous models in dogs and cats
Lars Moe
Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo, Norway
Several excellent animal models of human and animal diseases are known to occur spontaneously and under normal conditions in companion animals such as dogs and cats. Such models are important to study because
they often resemble human disease in an excellent way
since dogs are larger animals than laboratory rats, realistic studies of clinical, diagnostic techniques and new therapy models can be employed
aetiological factors and pathogenesis can be studied under natural environmental influences
we can reduce the number of laboratory animals used for experimental studies
the entities are not "man made" diseases.
There is a long range of inherited conditions in different organ systems that have been described in companion animals. In some of these diseases the genetic mechanism/gene defect has been identified. Inherited diseases are often easier to study in companion animals because they have multiple offspring, and shorter life cycles than man. It is therefore easier to get large resource families to reveal the genetic mechanism.
Several familial polycystic kidney diseases that resemble renal cystic disease are found in e.g. Persian cats, longhaired domestic cats, in Cairn terriers and German shepherd dogs. In Persian cats and German shepherd dogs the trait follows an autosomal dominant pattern. In the German shepherd dog the condition is a model for pathogenesis of inherited cancer (responsible gene on chromosome no. 5), since a renal cystadenocarcinoma and multiple nodular dermatofibrosis develop spontaneously.
An oxalate nephropathy in Tibetan spaniels and cats is the result of deposition of oxalate crystals in the renal tubules. In both species the primary hyperoxaluria is due to two different liver-specific enzyme defects. The traits of hyperoxaluria are both transmitted in an autosomal recessive fashion. Primary hyperoxaluria of cats is analogous to primary hyperoxaluria type 2 in Man, whereas the primary hyperoxaluria in dogs is a model for primary hyperoxaluria type 1 in man.
This presentation will focus on spontaneous canine models in comparative oncology and renal disease.
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