Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pre- and post-therapy circulating immuno-stimulatory and immuno-suppressive cytokines in dogs with juvenile-onset generalized demodecosis.
- Journal:
- Veterinary parasitology
- Year:
- 2019
- Authors:
- Singh, Alok et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Veterinary Medicine · India
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
This study looked at nine young dogs with a skin condition called juvenile-onset generalized demodecosis, which is caused by an overgrowth of Demodex mites when the dog's immune system isn't working well. The researchers measured certain immune system markers in the dogs' blood before and after treatment with a special rinse containing amitraz. They found that after 60 days of treatment, the level of one specific immune marker, IL-10, decreased significantly, which suggests that the treatment was helping. However, other markers didn't show significant changes, and there was a strong link between the number of mites and the level of IL-10 both before and after treatment. Overall, the study suggests that the Demodex mites contribute to the immune system issues in these dogs, and the treatment seems to help reduce the mite population and improve the condition.
Abstract
Overproliferation of Demodex mites in dogs with compromised immunity attributed to the development of canine demodecosis. Whether clinical signs of canine demodecosis are triggered by genetically-mediated specific immunodeficiency in dogs or the Demodex mites induce lesions in hair follicles and result in compromised immunity is yet to be fully explored. To unravel the concealments of immunosuppression in canine demodecosis the present study was aimed to estimate the levels of circulating cytokines, pre- and post-therapy in nine dogs with juvenile-onset generalized demodecosis. At day 60 post-therapy of recommended amitraz rinse, significant (p ≤ 0.02) reduction in circulating IL-10 level was observed compared to its level before the start of the therapy (day 0). However, significant alterations in circulating levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ were not observed in these dogs at day 60 post-therapy as compared to their day 0 levels. A strong positive correlation between circulating level of IL-10 and mites population was observed both on day 0 (r = 0.656; p ≤ 0.005) and day 60 post-therapy (r = 0.575; p ≤ 0.018). Therefore, our findings suggest that Demodex mites induce immunosuppression in dogs during clinical disease and mites burden seems to be responsible for the development of generalized demodecosis.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31634689/