BY: SAMANTHA BARTLETT, DVM
The Dog Aging Project is part of a $5million research endeavor by Cornell University, the University of Washington and the University of Arizona. The goal is to investigate the links between Alzheimer’s disease and canine cognitive dysfunction. The four-year project is funded by the National Institute on Aging to determine whether Alzheimer’s and canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) share the same genetic and environmental triggers.
Alzheimer’s and CCD are both incurable diseases that are hard to diagnose in early stages of disease. Once symptoms of Alzheimer’s appear in people, it may be 15 to 20 years into the disease process. Approximately 6.2million Americans currently live with Alzheimer’s. That number is expected to approach 13 million by 2050.
CCD affects up to 60% of older dogs (older than 11 years). It is most often seen in small breed dogs due to the shorter life span of large breeds. The most obvious signs of CCD are disorientation, anxiousness, dogs that get easily scared, do not recognized their owner, become aggressive or apathetic, have difficulty controlling urination and defecation and changes in circadian rhythm.
To conduct the study, researchers first will identify the biomarkers for CCD in samples from hundreds of dogs. Those samples will then be banked for future research. Researchers hope that identifying biomarkers of CCD will lead to further discoveries about Alzheimer’s disease. A screening questionnaire and assessment has been developed by researchers to be completed by dog owners after putting their pets through a series of exercises. This assessment is then scored by researchers to determine if their dog has CCD.
Samples collected from dogs enrolled in the Dog Aging Project will be stored at the Cornell Veterinary Biobank. Researchers will identify 200 dogs that have CCD from the assessment developed for the project. Once those dogs reach the end of their lives, researchers will examine 100 of the dogs that have passed away to find the neuropathological markers of CCD. Once the biomarkers of CCD are identified, researchers can then translate that into Alzheimer’s research to see if a similar pathway can be identified. These findings will hopefully lead to better diagnostics and treatment options for both diseases.
