Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dopamine and somatostatin receptors in dogs with Cushing's disease
By de Bruin, C et al.·Published in Endocrinology·2008·Department of Internal Medicine, Netherlands·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Expression and functional analysis of dopamine receptor subtype 2 and somatostatin receptor subtypes in canine cushing's disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 13 dogs with Cushing's disease, a condition causing excessive cortisol levels, were studied to understand how certain receptors in their pituitary tumors might respond to treatment. Researchers found that a specific receptor (sst2) was most commonly expressed in these tumors, and a medication called octreotide, which targets this receptor, effectively reduced the hormone ACTH that contributes to the disease. This suggests that octreotide could be a promising treatment option for dogs with Cushing's disease. However, the study also noted that there are differences between how dogs and humans express these receptors, which is important to consider when developing treatments for both species.
People also search for: dog Cushing's disease treatment · octreotide for dogs · symptoms of Cushing's disease in dogs
Abstract
Cushing's disease (CD) is a severe disorder characterized by chronic hypercortisolism due to an ACTH-secreting pituitary adenoma. Transsphenoidal adenomectomy is the treatment of choice in humans with CD, but recurrences occur frequently. Finding an effective and safe medical treatment for CD may improve long-term clinical outcome. The recent demonstration of expression of somatostatin receptor subtypes (mainly sst5) and dopamine receptor subtype 2 (D2) in human corticotroph adenomas offers the possibility for medical treatment of CD with novel somatostatin analogs and dopamine agonists. Investigation of the effects of these drugs is hampered by the low incidence of CD in humans. Interestingly, CD is a frequent disorder in dogs with striking clinical similarities with CD in humans. Therefore, we investigated the expression and functional role of D2 and somatostatin receptors in corticotroph adenoma cells from 13 dogs with active CD that underwent therapeutic hypophysectomy and normal anterior pituitary cells from five dogs. Quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry revealed that both in CD and normal anterior pituitary, sst2 was the predominant receptor subtype expressed, whereas D2 was modestly expressed and sst5 was expressed only at very low levels. In primary cultures of canine adenomas (n = 7), the sst2-preferring agonist octreotide also showed the strongest ACTH-suppressive effects. In conclusion, canine corticotroph adenomas provide an interesting model to study CD, but differences in somatostatin and dopamine receptor expression between humans and dogs should be taken into account when using dogs with CD as a model to evaluate efficacy of novel somatostatin analogs and dopamine agonists for human CD.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18483151/