Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How CD8 T Cells Cause Muscle Disease in Dogs with Masticatory
By Neumann, J & Bilzer, T·Published in Muscle & nerve·2006·Institut fü, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evidence for MHC I-restricted CD8+ T-cell-mediated immunopathology in canine masticatory muscle myositis and polymyositis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old Golden Retriever was brought in for difficulty chewing and swelling in the jaw muscles. The veterinarian diagnosed him with masticatory muscle myositis (MMM), an inflammatory condition affecting the muscles used for chewing. Tests showed that his immune system was mistakenly attacking his muscle fibers, leading to pain and weakness. Treatment involved immunosuppressive medications to reduce the immune response, which helped improve his symptoms and allowed him to eat more comfortably again.
People also search for: dog jaw muscle swelling · masticatory muscle myositis treatment · why is my dog having trouble chewing
Abstract
Masticatory muscle myositis (MMM) is the most common inflammatory myopathy (IM) in dogs, associated with antibodies against myosin. To further elucidate the immunopathogenesis, we investigated muscles of 53 dogs with MMM, 32 dogs with polymyositis (PM), and 4 dogs suffering from both, with regard to the presence and location of CD4(+) and CD8(+)T cells, B cells, macrophages, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and class II antigens, and autoantibodies. CD8(+)T cells were found in MMM (91%) and PM (75%), mostly paralleled (68% and 61%) by enhanced expression of MHC class I antigen on muscle fibers. CD8(+)T cells invading intact and neighboring necrotic muscle fibers were present in MMM (39%) and PM (42%). Dogs with MMM lacking intramuscular (26%) and circulating (36%) autoantibodies also had CD8(+) T-cell infiltrations and muscle-fiber lesions. Since MHC class I antigen and CD8(+) T cells were detected in the presence of CD4(+) T cells, regardless of antimuscular antibodies, we consider MMM and PM in the dog as a CD8(+) T-cell-mediated immunopathological disease that initiates muscle-fiber destruction and leads to production of myosin autoantibodies.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16270307/