Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Does one dose of oral oclacitinib reduce itching after IL-31
By Leon, Renato et al.·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: Evaluation of One-Time Oral Oclacitinib Administration on Pruritic Behaviours After Intradermal Interleukin-31-Induced Pruritus Injections ("Reactive" Model) in Healthy Dogs: A Blinded, Randomised, Cross-Over Study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of eight healthy beagles was tested for itching after receiving a substance that causes itchiness (interleukin-31). After the dogs were given a single dose of oclacitinib, a medication designed to relieve itching, researchers found that it significantly reduced scratching, chewing, and head-shaking behaviors. The dogs showed improvement within a couple of hours after taking the medication. This study suggests that oclacitinib can be effective in managing itching in dogs, which could help in developing new treatments for itchy skin conditions.
People also search for: dog itching treatment · oclacitinib for dogs · why is my dog scratching so much
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Administration of interleukin (IL)-31 to healthy dogs has been used in preclinical drug testing to evaluate the antipruritic effect of novel medications through a "preventative" design approach (i.e., drugs are given before IL-31 administration). HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Develop and validate a "reactive" intradermal IL-31-induced pruritus model in healthy dogs by administering oral oclacitinib. ANIMALS: Eight adult, healthy research-bred beagles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A blinded, randomised, cross-over study. All dogs received either intradermal recombinant canine IL-31 with or without a single dose of oral oclacitinib given afterward; cross-over treatment was administered following a 4-week washout period. RESULTS: Oclacitinib reduced the total (p = 0.0252) and local (p = 0.0078) pruritic behaviour seconds after intradermal IL-31 injections. It also reduced the total seconds of scratching (p = 0.0078), chewing/biting (p = 0.0078) and head-shaking (p = 0.0255) behaviours. No significant reduction in licking was observed. Decreases in total pruritic seconds in this "reactive" model following oclacitinib administration were observed at 120-180 min (p = 0.0058), 180-240 min (p = 0.0075) and 240-300 min (p = 0.0241). Likewise, decreases in local pruritic behaviour seconds were observed at 60-120 min (p = 0.0498) and 240-300 min (p = 0.0343). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The study established the first "reactive" canine intradermal IL-31 itch model in healthy dogs. One-time oral administration of oclacitinib significantly reduced the incidence of pruritic behaviours. Novel antipruritic medications can be assessed and compared using this "reactive" model in future preclinical trials.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40726460/