Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Immunomodulation and immunodeficiency.
- Journal:
- Veterinary dermatology
- Year:
- 2004
- Authors:
- Foster, Aiden P
- Affiliation:
- Department of Clinical Veterinary Science · United Kingdom
Plain-English summary
This article talks about how some skin diseases in dogs and cats can be linked to problems with their immune systems. While it's rare for pets to have a weak immune system, conditions like severe combined immunodeficiency in dogs and certain viral infections in cats can lead to issues that might affect their skin. The article also mentions that treatments aimed at boosting the immune system, called immunomodulation, are being explored, but there isn't a lot of strong evidence showing they work well in pets. Some treatments, like interferons, are being studied for their potential benefits, but results have been mixed, especially for conditions like canine pyoderma, which is a skin infection. Overall, the effectiveness of these treatments is still uncertain, and more research is needed to find successful options.
Abstract
This article briefly reviews the concepts of immunodeficiency and immunomodulation as they relate to selected skin diseases in the dog and cat. Immunodeficiency states are uncommon and may be associated with a subnormal or down-regulated immune system, including humoral deficiencies, such as IgA, and abnormal lymphocyte or neutrophil function. Establishing a causal relationship between a skin disease and presumed immunodeficient state has been difficult due to the rarity of such conditions, and the limited nature of the techniques used to characterise the immune system response. Severe combined immunodeficiency in dogs is a well characterised primary immunodeficiency state involving lymphocytes; retrovirus infection in cats may lead to an acquired immunodeficient state with some association with certain dermatological conditions although it remains unclear that infection is causally linked with disease. Immunomodulation usually implies stimulating the immune system along a beneficial pathway. Such a therapeutic approach may involve a wide variety of agents, for example intravenous immunoglobulin. There are few randomised controlled trials with veterinary patients that unequivocally demonstrate beneficial responses to immunomodulatory agents. Interferons are cytokines of major interest in human and veterinary medicine for their antiviral, anti-tumour and immunomodulatory effects. The advent of veterinary-licensed products containing recombinant interferon may enable demonstration of the efficacy of interferons for conditions such as canine papillomatosis and feline eosinophilic granuloma complex. Canine pyoderma has been treated with a number of presumed immunomodulatory agents with limited success. With more detailed knowledge of the pathogenesis of pyoderma it may be possible to develop efficacious immunomodulators.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15030560/