Canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) is a common chronic and pruritic skin disease in dogs. The development of cAD involves complex interactions between environmental antigens, genetic predisposition and a number of disparate cell types. The aim of the present study was to perform comprehensive analyses of peripheral blood of AD dogs in relation to healthy subjects in order to determine the changes which would be characteristic for cAD. The number of cells in specific subpopulations of lymphocytes was analyzed by flow cytometry, concentration of chosen pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, TNF-α, TGF-β1) was determined by ELISA; and microarray analysis was performed on RNA samples isolated from peripheral blood nuclear cells of AD and healthy dogs. The number of Th cells (CD3+CD4+) in AD and healthy dogs was similar, whereas the percentage of Tc (CD3+CD8+) and Treg (CD4+CD25+ Foxp3+) cells increased significantly in AD dogs. Increased concentrations of IL-13 and TNF-α, and decreased levels of IL-10 and TGF-β1 was observed in AD dogs. The level of IL-4 was similar in both groups of animals. Results of the microarray experiment revealed differentially expressed genes involved in transcriptional regulation (e.g., transcription factors: SMAD2, RORA) or signal transduction pathways (e.g., VEGF, SHB21, PROC) taking part in T lymphocytes lineages differentiation and cytokines synthesis. Results obtained indicate that CD8+ T cells, beside CD4+ T lymphocytes, contribute to the development of the allergic response. Increased IL-13 concentration in AD dogs suggests that this cytokine may play more important role than IL-4 in mediating changes induced by allergic inflammation. Furthermore, observed increase in Treg cells in parallel with high concentrations of TNF-α and low levels of IL-10 and TGF-β1 in the peripheral blood of AD dogs point at the functional insufficiency of Treg cells in patients with AD.

Reproduction Nutrition Development, formerly Annales de Biologie Animale Biochimie Biophysique

Endocardiosis is the most common heart disease in Dachshunds and is therefore an important cause of cardiac morbidity and death. In recent years we have observed an increasing interest in the development of new genetic and genomic markers of heart disease. The discovery of miRNAs circulating in biofluids such as plasma or serum aroused researchers’ interest in using them as potential biomarkers. In the present study we analysed the expression of 9 miRNAs described in literature as being involved in cardiovascular pathology in the plasma of dogs suffering from endocardiosis. Expression analysis using the Real-time PCR method revealed that two out of nine miRNAs were significantly downregulated: the expression of miR-30b differed between ACVIM stage B and stage A (control) dogs; the expression of mi-133b differed ACVIM stage C and stage A dogs. 5 miRNAs (miR-125, miR-126, miR-21, miR-29b and miR-30b) showed a trend of downregulation in the ACVIM C group. Levels of miR-423 were the same in healthy and diseased dogs. Expression of miR-208a and 208b was not detected. miR-30b could be a potential biomarker of ACVIM stage B heart failure in Dachshunds with endocardiosis and miR-133b could be a potential biomarker of ACVIM stage C. The lack of expression or lack of significant changes in expression in 7 miRNAs which are potential biomarkers of heart diseases in humans proves that findings from human medicine are not always directly reflected in veterinary medicine.