Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How house dust mite allergy affects beagle dogs by exposure route
By Marsella, R et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2006·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Studies on the role of routes of allergen exposure in high IgE-producing beagle dogs sensitized to house dust mites.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of beagle dogs with high levels of IgE (a type of antibody linked to allergies) developed itchy skin problems after being exposed to house dust mites in different ways, including through their skin, by eating, and by breathing in the allergens. All dogs showed signs of pruritic dermatitis (itchy skin) regardless of how they were exposed, but the severity of the symptoms varied. When the dogs were fed the allergens, the skin issues were less severe than when they were exposed to the allergens in their environment. The study concluded that all exposure routes contribute to the dogs' allergic reactions, but ongoing skin exposure likely plays the biggest role in their symptoms.
People also search for: beagle dog itchy skin treatment · house dust mite allergy in dogs · dog skin problems from allergens
Abstract
The current study aimed to investigate the role played by oral, epicutaneous, and inhalation routes of exposure to house dust mites (HDM). The colony of high IgE-producing beagle dogs has been shown to develop pruritic dermatitis compatible with atopic dermatitis following environmental exposure (EE) to HDM. In crossover experiments, the response to EE was compared to two modified challenges, oral exposure (OE) and snood and muzzle exposure (SME). For OE, HDM were fed daily for 3 days. For SME, ingestion of allergen was prevented but there was inhalation and epicutaneous exposure to all body regions except to one ear. In all experiments, dogs were challenged for three consecutive days, and evaluated before, 6 h after exposure and daily thereafter, for 5 days. After a wash-out period, groups were crossed-over so that each dog was randomly challenged to all three protocols. Clinical scores were analysed using least squares analysis of variance. All dogs developed pruritic dermatitis regardless of the protocol. With OE, lesions developed in the same body regions as with EE although scores were lower. This difference became more evident after the first 3 days when OE scores decreased and EE scores continued to increase. The scores of covered and uncovered ears did not differ with SME. Scores for the remainder of the body were significantly lower than for EE. The development of lesions on covered ears supports the importance of inhalation or a systemic reaction to epicutaneous exposure in other areas. It is concluded that all routes are important and have additive effects, that route of exposure does not determine the distribution of lesions and that continuous epicutaneous exposure probably plays the most important role.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16961815/