Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Canine pyoderma gangrenosum skin ulcers as a model for human disease
By Karpoff, Kateryna et al.·Published in International journal of dermatology·2025·Department of Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Paws to Patients: Canine Pyoderma Gangrenosum as a Reflective Model of Human Pyoderma Gangrenosum.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old dog with painful skin ulcers was diagnosed with canine pyoderma gangrenosum, a rare condition that causes severe skin lesions. The dog's ulcers were found on multiple areas, including the trunk and paws, similar to how humans are affected. Treatment with prednisone (a steroid) helped initially, and cyclosporine was used for ongoing management. The dog responded well to these medications, showing improvement in its condition.
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Abstract
Human pyoderma gangrenosum (hPG) is a rare, non-infectious neutrophilic dermatosis characterized by painful, necrotic ulcers with violaceous borders. Research on hPG is limited by minimal existing animal models, the sole being a pharmacologically induced murine model. Few cases of canine pyoderma gangrenosum (cPG) have been published, and dogs are genetically closer to humans than are mice, making them a potentially valuable model of hPG. We aimed to characterize all published cPG cases and compare their presentation to that of hPG. A Google Scholar, PubMed, and Embase search of "canine AND pyoderma gangrenosum" was conducted in August 2024, with seven case reports, two case series, and two veterinarian-sourced cases ultimately reviewed. Of the 31 analyzed cPG cases, 30 presented with skin ulcers at multiple sites, the most common being the trunk (64.5%), paws (41.9%), and limbs (32.3%), mirroring the typical localization of hPG on the lower extremities, back, and abdomen. The average age of cPG presentation was 7.8 +/- 3.7 years (range: 0.25-14.5 years). Dogs reflected hPG comorbidities, with 16.1% presenting with gastrointestinal pathologies, 6.5% with arthritis, and 6.5% with hematologic disorders. Dogs were responsive to medications frequently employed in hPG-prednisone/prednisolone (80.6%) as initial therapy, and cyclosporine (77.4%) as maintenance therapy. Overall, cPG resembles hPG in affected anatomic sites, comorbidities, and therapeutic response. It offers a representative, spontaneously occurring hPG animal model alternative to the existing murine model. Future studies are necessary to reproduce cPG to further investigate disease pathophysiology.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40400070/