量化ing Cognitive Decline in Dogs Could Help Humans With Alzheimer’s Disease
For Immediate Release
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.
格鲁恩说：“我们的目标是汇总多种工具，以便更完整地了解CCD在狗中的展示方式。”
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.
奥尔比说：“能够以临床安全和相关的方式诊断和量化CCD是能够与狗一起作为人类阿尔茨海默氏病的典范的好第一步。”“例如，在啮齿动物中，许多当前的阿尔茨海默氏病模型非常适合理解生理变化，但不能用于测试治疗。”
“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.”
作品出现在Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. NC State postdoctoral fellows Gilad Fefer and Wojciech K. Panek are co-first authors of the work.
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Note to editors:An abstract follows.
“使用认知测试，问卷调查和血浆生物标志物来量化老化的宠物狗种群的认知障碍”
Authors: Gilad Fefer, Wojciech K. Panek, Michael Z. Khan, Matthew Singer, Hans Westermeyer, Freya M. Mowat, Beth Case, Natasha J. Olby, Margaret E. Gruen, North Carolina State University; David M. Murdoch, Duke University Medical Center
Published: Apr. 15, 2022 inJournal of Alzheimer’s Disease
Abstract:
背景：衰老的狗患有犬类认知功能障碍综合征（CCD），这种情况与淀粉样病理学和皮质萎缩有关。推定诊断是通过体格检查，排除全身/代谢状况的排除以及所有者填写筛查问卷的。目的：这项研究旨在确定是否可以在老化的宠物犬中量化认知功能，并将认知测试与已验证的问卷和血浆神经丝轻链（PNFL）浓度相关联。方法：招募了15个品种的39只狗（9.3至15。3年）。业主完成了犬痴呆量表（CADES）和犬认知功能障碍评级量表（CCDR）。测试了执行控制和社会提示，并用单分子阵列测定法测量了PNFL。对认知测试得分，CADES，CCDR评分和PNFL进行了比较。结果：CADES分类为五只狗为严重的CCD，六只作为中度，十个温和，而十八则是正常的。CCDR识别出七只具有CCD的风险，正常情况下有32只狗。尽管受到严重影响的狗无法学习任务，但大多数狗都可以进行认知测试。 CADES score correlated with sustained attention duration (r=-0.47, p=0.002), inhibitory control (r=-0.51, p=0.002), detour (r=-0.43, p=0.001), and pNfL (r=0.41, p=0.025). Concentration of pNfL correlated with inhibitory control (r=-0.7, p=0.001). The CCDR scale correlated with performance on inhibitory control (r=-0.46, p=0.005). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that a multi-dimensional approach using a combination of questionnaires, specific cognitive tests, and pNfL concentration can be used to quantify cognitive decline in aging pet dogs.
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