Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cushing's syndrome in a dog caused by adrenal gland hormone production
By Soler Arias, Elber A et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2022·Hospital Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria-U. Endocrinologí·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cushing's syndrome caused by intra-adrenocortical adrenocorticotropic hormone in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 13-year-old Labrador retriever was diagnosed with Cushing's syndrome, which is a condition that leads to excessive hormone production. The dog's symptoms were linked to changes in the adrenal glands, which were found to be hyperplastic, meaning they had abnormal growth. During the examination, the vet ruled out other causes and discovered a pheochromocytoma, a type of tumor. Unfortunately, the dog passed away, but the findings suggest that similar hormonal issues seen in humans can also occur in dogs.
People also search for: dog Cushing's syndrome symptoms · Labrador retriever adrenal gland problems · treatment for dog Cushing's disease
Abstract
A 13-year-old Labrador retriever was diagnosed with Cushing's syndrome (CS) caused by primary bilateral nodular adrenocortical hyperplasia with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) expression. The pituitary origin of CS was ruled out by suppression of plasma ACTH concentration and absence of a proliferative lesion on histological evaluation of the pituitary gland using periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining, reticulin staining, and immunostaining for ACTH. A pheochromocytoma also was found at necropsy examination. On histological evaluation of both adrenal glands, at the junction of the fascicular and glomerular zones, multiple cell clusters distributed in both hyperplastic adrenal cortices expressed ACTH, whereas the pheochromocytoma cells did not. These results indicate that a disease similar to primary bilateral macronodular adrenocortical hyperplasia in humans also occurs in dogs, with intra-adrenocortical expression of ACTH, glucocorticoids excess, and clinical signs of CS. Therefore, the term ACTH-independent could be inappropriate in some cases of bilateral adrenocortical hyperplasia and suppressed plasma ACTH concentration in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34859494/