Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Spinal cord neuron loss and low GLT-1 in Corgis with degenerative
By Ogawa, M et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·2014·Department of Veterinary Pathology, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Neuronal loss and decreased GLT-1 expression observed in the spinal cord of Pembroke Welsh Corgi dogs with canine degenerative myelopathy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of Pembroke Welsh Corgis with canine degenerative myelopathy (DM) showed significant loss of nerve cells in their spinal cords, which could explain their progressive weakness and mobility issues. Researchers found that these dogs had lower levels of a protein called GLT-1, which helps protect nerve cells from damage. This suggests that the nerve damage in these dogs may be related to excitotoxicity, a process where nerve cells are harmed by excessive stimulation. Understanding these changes could help in developing better treatments for DM in dogs.
People also search for: Pembroke Welsh Corgi degenerative myelopathy symptoms · dog spinal cord disease treatment · canine DM nerve damage
Abstract
Canine degenerative myelopathy (DM) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is frequently found in Pembroke Welsh Corgi (PWC) dogs. Canine DM is potentially a spontaneous animal model for human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) because of similar lesions and the involvement of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) mutation. However, the ventral horn lesion in DM has not been characterized in detail. Glutamate excitotoxicity due to deficiency of the glutamine-glutamate cycle has been implicated in neuron death in ALS. Thus, we examined 5 PWC dogs with an SOD1 mutation that were affected by DM, 5 non-DM PWC dogs, and 5 Beagle dogs without neurologic signs to assess the neuronal changes and the expression levels of 2 glial excitatory amino acid transporters (glutamate transporter 1 [GLT-1] and glutamate/aspartate transporter [GLAST]). The number of neurons in the spinal ventral horns of the DM dogs was significantly decreased, whereas no change was found in the cell size. Chromatolysis, lipofuscin-laden neurons, and marked synapse loss were also observed. GLT-1 expression was strikingly decreased in DM dogs, whereas GLAST expression showed no significant change. The results indicate that excitotoxicity related to the reduced expression of GLT-1, but not GLAST, may be involved in neuron loss in DM, as in human ALS, whereas intraneuronal events may differ between the 2 diseases.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23839236/