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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Gene changes in intestinal biopsies from dogs with chronic enteropathy

By Wilke, Vicki L et al.·Published in American journal of veterinary research·2012·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Gene expression in intestinal mucosal biopsy specimens obtained from dogs with chronic enteropathy.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A group of dogs with chronic enteropathy (CE), which can cause symptoms like diarrhea and weight loss, had small intestinal tissue samples taken to study their gene expression. Researchers found that many genes related to inflammation and gut health were not functioning properly in these dogs compared to healthy dogs. The findings suggest that the level of inflammation in the gut varies with the severity of the disease. Understanding these changes could help improve treatments for dogs with CE, similar to approaches used for humans with inflammatory bowel disease.

People also search for: dog chronic diarrhea treatment · dog weight loss causes · inflammatory bowel disease in dogs

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To characterize mucosal gene expression in dogs with chronic enteropathy (CE). ANIMALS: 18 dogs with CE and 6 healthy control dogs. PROCEDURES: Small intestinal mucosal biopsy specimens were endoscopically obtained from dogs. Disease severity in dogs with CE was determined via inflammatory bowel index scores and histologic grading of biopsy specimens. Total RNA was extracted from biopsy specimens and microchip array analysis (approx 43,000 probe sets) and quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR assays were performed. RESULTS: 1,875 genes were differentially expressed between dogs with CE and healthy control dogs; 1,582 (85%) genes were downregulated in dogs with CE, including neurotensin, fatty acid-binding protein 6, fatty acid synthase, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member B1, metallothionein, and claudin 8, whereas few genes were upregulated in dogs with CE, including genes encoding products involved in extracellular matrix degradation (matrix metallopeptidases 1, 3, and 13), inflammation (tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-8, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ, and S100 calcium-binding protein G), iron transport (solute carrier family 40 member 1), and immunity (CD96 and carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule [CEACAM] 18). Dogs with CE and protein-losing enteropathy had the greatest number of differentially expressed genes. Results of quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR assay for select genes were similar to those for microchip array analysis. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Expression of genes encoding products regulating mucosal inflammation was altered in dogs with CE and varied with disease severity. Impact for Human Medicine-Molecular pathogenesis of CE in dogs may be similar to that in humans with inflammatory bowel disease.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22849683/