Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Early skin allergy and itching from dust mites in dogs without prior
By Banovic, Frane & Blubaugh, Amanda·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2025·Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Epicutaneous house dust mite (HDM)-induced skin lesions feature early activation of T helper 2 inflammatory and pruritogenic pathways in HDM-nonsensitised dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of laboratory beagles that were not previously sensitized to house dust mites developed skin lesions after exposure to dust mites. Both sensitized and nonsensitized dogs showed signs of inflammation and itchiness due to the activation of certain immune pathways. The study found that the nonsensitized dogs also experienced immune changes similar to those in sensitized dogs, indicating that even dogs without prior allergies can react to dust mites. This suggests that dust mites can trigger skin problems in dogs that haven't shown allergies before, highlighting the importance of monitoring for skin issues in all dogs.
People also search for: dog skin problems dust mites · why is my dog itching · house dust mite allergy in dogs · dog skin lesions treatment
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Epicutaneously house dust mite-sensitised (HDM-S) healthy dogs are commonly used as canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) models; however, the exact mechanisms of HDM-induced AD immune activation in HDM-S and HDM-nonsensitised (NS) dogs remain unclear. OBJECTIVES: To characterise the inflammatory and pruritogenic transcriptome of acute epicutaneous HDM-induced skin lesions at 6 h and 24 h in HDM-NS and HDM-S dogs; untreated skin at 0 h from each dog served as control. ANIMALS: Six HDM-S and six HDM-NS laboratory beagles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Processed expression data from GEO deposited by Schamber et al. (G3 (Bethesda), 2014, 4 and 1787) (GSE58442) were downloaded and analysed using R and the Bioconductor package. Significance analysis was performed with the limma package; genes with false discovery rate <0.05 and fold-change ≤/≥1.5 were considered significantly differentially expressed (DEGs). RESULTS: A 2D principal component analysis revealed no clear separation between HDM-NS and HDM-S dogs at 6 h and 24 h time points. HDM-induced skin lesions in sensitised and nonsensitised dogs at the 24 h time point showed significant upregulation of T helper cell (Th)2 genes (interleukin [IL]-4R, IL-5, IL-13, CCL13 and CCL17), as well as proinflammatory- (LTB, IL-1A and IL-18), Th1- (CXCL10, OASL and MX-1) and Th17-related markers (IL-17B, IL-17F, CCL19 and CCL20). The key Th22-related maker, IL-22, was upregulated only in the HDM-S group at the 24 h time point. Both groups at 24 h featured significant upregulation of several noncytokine pruritogens, such as trypsin, chymase, cathepsin S, periostin and neuromedin B. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Taken together, we establish that epicutaneous HDM patch application induces immune changes in HDM-NS dogs with Th2 dominance and activates several itch-promoting pathways.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39440450/