MSGID: 1:317/3 6279ea79   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Quantifying cognitive decline in dogs could help humans with Alzheimer's   
   disease    
      
     Date:   
         May 9, 2022   
     Source:   
         North Carolina State University   
     Summary:   
         Researchers have found that a suite of complimentary tests can   
         quantify changes in dogs suspected of suffering from cognitive   
         decline. The approach could not only aid owners in managing   
         their elderly canine's care, but could also serve as a model for   
         evaluating cognitive decline progression in -- and treatments for --   
         humans with Alzheimer's disease.   
      
      
      
   FULL STORY   
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   Researchers have found that a suite of complementary tests can quantify   
   changes in dogs suspected of suffering from cognitive decline. The   
   approach could not only aid owners in managing their elderly canine's   
   care, but could also serve as a model for evaluating cognitive decline   
   progression in -- and treatments for -- humans with Alzheimer's disease.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CCDS) is similar to Alzheimer's   
   disease in humans in that cognitive decline is associated with   
   the development of amyloid plaques as well as cortical atrophy, a   
   progressive degeneration of brain tissue. CCDS is also challenging   
   to diagnose. Traditionally, CCDS is diagnosed based on ruling out any   
   obvious physical conditions and an owner's answers to a questionnaire.   
      
   "One problem with the current approach is that questionnaires only capture   
   a constellation of home behaviors," says Natasha Olby, the Dr. Kady   
   M. Gjessing and Rahna M. Davidson Distinguished Chair in Gerontology   
   at North Carolina State University and co-senior author of a paper   
   describing the work. "There can be other reasons for what an owner may   
   perceive as cognitive decline - - anything from an undiagnosed infection   
   to a brain tumor."  Olby and co-senior author Margaret Gruen, assistant   
   professor of behavioral medicine at NC State, wanted to determine whether   
   cognitive function could be accurately quantified in dogs.   
      
   "Our goal was to bring together multiple tools in order to get a more   
   complete picture of how CCDS presents in dogs," Gruen says.   
      
   To that end, the researchers recruited 39 dogs from 15 breeds. All of   
   them were in the senior and geriatric age range, but in good health   
   overall. A dog is considered "senior" if it is in the last 25% of its   
   expected life span based on breed and size, and geriatric beyond that.   
      
   The dogs underwent physical and orthopedic exams, as well as lab work   
   that included a blood test that is a marker of neuronal death. Their   
   owners filled out two commonly used diagnostic questionnaires, and then   
   the dogs participated in a series of cognitive tests designed to assess   
   executive function, memory and attention.   
      
   "The approach we took isn't necessarily designed to be diagnostic;   
   instead, we want to use these tools to be able to identify dogs at   
   an early stage and be able to follow them as the disease progresses,   
   quantifying the changes," Olby says.   
      
   The team found that cognitive and blood test results correlated well with   
   the questionnaire scores, suggesting that a multi-dimensional approach   
   can be used to quantify cognitive decline in aging dogs.   
      
   "Being able to diagnose and quantify CCDS in a way that is clinically safe   
   and relevant is a good first step toward being able to work with dogs as a   
   model for Alzheimer's disease in humans," Olby says. "Many of the current   
   models of Alzheimers disease -- in rodents, for example -- are good for   
   understanding physiological changes, but not for testing treatments."   
   "Dogs live in our homes and develop naturally occurring disease just   
   like we do," Gruen says. "These findings show promise for both dogs and   
   humans in terms of improving our understanding of disease progression   
   as well as for potentially testing treatments."  The work appears in   
   the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. NC State postdoctoral fellows Gilad   
   Fefer and Wojciech K. Panek are co-first authors of the work.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   North_Carolina_State_University. Original written by Tracey Peake. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Gilad Fefer, Wojciech K. Panek, Michael Z. Khan, Matthew Singer,   
      Hans   
         Westermeyer, Freya M. Mowat, David M. Murdoch, Beth Case, Natasha J.   
      
         Olby, Margaret E. Gruen. Use of Cognitive Testing, Questionnaires,   
         and Plasma Biomarkers to Quantify Cognitive Impairment in an Aging   
         Pet Dog Population. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2022; 1 DOI:   
         10.3233/JAD- 215562   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220509150745.htm   
      
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