Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dogs with sun-damaged skin treated with firocoxib for 180 days
By Albanese, Francesco et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2013·Private Practice, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical outcome and cyclo-oxygenase-2 expression in five dogs with solar dermatitis/actinic keratosis treated with firocoxib.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of five dogs with skin problems caused by sun exposure, known as solar dermatitis or actinic keratosis, were treated with a medication called firocoxib. This medication was given daily for six months, and the dogs showed improvement in their skin condition, with four out of five dogs benefiting from the treatment. The results indicated that firocoxib helped reduce the severity of their symptoms, such as redness and skin texture changes. Overall, the treatment appeared effective in managing this sun-related skin issue in dogs.
People also search for: dog solar dermatitis treatment · firocoxib for dogs skin problems · actinic keratosis in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The conversion of arachidonic acid into prostaglandin is catalysed by the cyclo-oxygenases (COX-1/COX-2). Several studies indicate that COX-2 is overexpressed in actinic keratosis in humans and dogs. Firocoxib is a COX-2-selective inhibitor that blocks the biochemical activity of COX-2. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of firocoxib (5 mg/kg orally once daily) for the treatment of dogs with solar dermatitis/actinic keratosis. METHODS: Firocoxib 5 mg/kg was given orally once daily for 180 days to five dogs with clinical signs and histopathological lesions consistent with solar dermatitis/actinic keratosis. On days 0, 50 and 180, the severity of erythema, skin shine, induration and the number of comedones were evaluated by a clinical scoring system. On the same days, samples were collected for histopathology from 'target lesions' and COX-2 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The clinical follow-up showed that four of five dogs improved with the treatment; improvement in terms of histological findings was correlated with the regularization of the epidermal proliferation rather than the recovery of dermal changes. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: A role for COX-2 might thus be hypothesized in the pathogenesis of canine solar dermatitis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24128166/