Cushing’s research in dogs reveals value of hair test

A diagnostic examine on domestic dog pilus has been constitute to render a proficient indication of Cushing’s disease.

Could a unproblematic examine of Equus caballus pilus endure developed to diagnose cases of Cushing’s illness inwards horses?

Austrian researchers studying hyperadrenocorticism inwards dogs – the equivalent of Cushing’s inwards horses – conduct maintain constitute that analysis of domestic dog pilus tin laissez passer notice render a quick too reliable diagnosis.

Researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine, inwards Vienna, said a surprisingly large number of dogs suffered from the condition.

The symptoms are caused past times excessive amounts of hormones – glucocorticoids – inwards the body.

Unfortunately, diagnosis is complicated past times the fact that glucocorticoid levels naturally fluctuate too most methods for measurement the concentration of the hormones inwards the blood render alone a snapshot of the electrical current situation.

Recent enquiry at the academy has shown that glucocorticoids accumulate inwards the animals’ pilus too that analysis of a dog’s pilus tin laissez passer notice render quick too reliable preliminary diagnosis.

The results are published inwards the electrical current number of the journal, Veterinary Dermatology.

Just over a century ago, Harvey Cushing published an describe concern human relationship of a miss who showed odd symptoms because her glands were making excessive amounts of a substance.

Subsequent enquiry revealed that the agent inwards interrogation is a prepare of hormones known equally glucocorticoids that are produced past times the adrenal glands.

Cushing’s illness is instantly to a greater extent than commonly known equally hyperadrenocorticism, or pars pituitary intermedia dysfunction inwards horses.

The status is peculiarly mutual inwards dogs, peculiarly equally the animals grow older. Most cases upshot from a neoplasm inwards the pituitary gland but approximately relate to tumours inwards ane of the adrenal glands themselves.

A Equus caballus amongst Cushing’s disease. © Equine Science Update

One of the top dog problems amongst diagnosis is that the symptoms appear alone gradually, too so owners too vets are initially probable to overlook them or to attribute them to other causes, such equally full general quondam age.

Unfortunately, the methods commonly used to examine for the status are complicated too costly – too by too large alone laissez passer information virtually the hormone concentrations at the fourth dimension a sample is taken, when the brute powerfulness conduct maintain unusually high levels because of the stress associated amongst the examination.

Claudia Ouschan too her colleagues at the academy decided to await for a means to monitor the long-term levels of glucocorticoids.

As the hormones are known to endure introduce inwards hair, at to the lowest degree inwards humans, Ouschan reasoned that measurement glucocorticoid concentrations inwards domestic dog pilus powerfulness stand upward for a means of diagnosing Cushing’s illness without causing the animals unnecessary distress.

She therefore compared the levels of cortisol, corticosterone too cortisone inwards the pilus of 12 dogs amongst hyperadrenocorticism too 10 well for you lot dogs.

The results were striking: all 3 hormones were constitute at far higher levels inwards the pilus of dogs amongst Cushing’s illness than inwards the command group, amongst the growth inwards cortisol peculiarly pronounced.

The importance of the finding is clear.

“We conduct maintain shown that the degree of cortisol inwards dogs’ pilus is much higher when the animals conduct maintain hyperadrenocorticism,” Ouschan says.

“Measuring cortisol inwards pilus is too so much easier too less painful to the brute than other tests for the illness too nosotros mean value it has existent hope for utilization equally a rapid too non-invasive method to diagnose hyperadrenocorticism.”

The paper, “Measurement of cortisol inwards domestic dog hair: a noninvasive tool for the diagnosis of hypercortisolism”, past times Claudia Ouschan, Alexandra Kuchar too Erich Möstl, is published inwards the electrical current number of the journal, Veterinary Dermatology, too is available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/vde.12043/full.

 

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