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Media Contacts:
Dr. Thierry Olivry, 919/829-4276 or [email protected]
Sara Frisch, 919/515-3470 or [email protected]
June 10, 1998
NC State Veterinarians Explore New Treatments for Dogs With Allergies
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Each spring, dogs in North Carolina and other pollen-prone regions suffer through allergy season, much as their owners do.
Instead of sneezing, however, dogs with allergies are likely to suffer from pesky skin rashes such as canine atopic dermatitis, an eczema-like condition that causes itching and redness in skin folds and areas devoid of hair. If irritated by frequent scratching and biting, the rashes can become infected.
Veterinarians traditionally have treated allergic rashes with tablets or injections of corticosteroids -- cortisone derivatives. The steroids ease the dog's discomfort but increase its appetite, water consumption and urination. Long-term steroid use can have serious side effects, including muscle weakness and a predisposition in dogs to develop bacterial infections.
Researchers at North Carolina State University are looking at new ways to treat atopic dermatitis that are less stressful for dogs and more effective in the late phase of the disease, when steroids sometimes don't help.
"Atopic dermatitis is a seasonal disease. And unfortunately for us, the pollen season in North Carolina is very long," says Dr. Thierry Olivry, a professor of dermatology at NC State's College of Veterinary Medicine and co-leader of a clinical team studying the disease.
Grass pollen began afflicting dogs early in March this year and weed pollens are expected to last through November, Olivry says. Combined with the moisture, humidity and proliferation of fleas expected in the summer months, dogs in the South are especially susceptible to skin allergies. This keeps NC State veterinarians busy with a large number of allergy-suffering canine patients, and with clinical trials to identify new treatments.
"Our goal is to decrease or eliminate the need for steroids," Olivry says.
Immunotherapy is one of several alternative treatments being tested by immunologists and dermatologists at the veterinary college. The process uses repeated, increased-dose injections of allergens to reduce a dog's hypersensitivity to that allergen. Research shows that 60 to 80 percent of dogs receiving immunotherapy see a 50 percent improvement within the first six to 12 months, Olivry says. There are virtually no side effects, but the treatment, which is available commercially, is significantly more expensive than using steroids. Olivry says dog owners can expect to invest $1,000 for allergy testing and immunotherapy over a three-year period.
NC State researchers also are testing alternative medications that can be used with or in place of immunotherapy.
In 1997, Olivry authored a paper in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment that explored the use of misoprostol, a drug used for treating stomach ulcers, in dogs at NC State's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Misoprostol proved effective in treating the late-phase reactions to atopic dermatitis, resulting in fewer lesions and reduced itching for long-suffering dogs.
Now, Olivry's team also has begun clinical tests using low doses of cyclosporine -- a drug commonly used in animals and humans during organ transplants -- to treat late-stage atopic dermatitis. Members of the same drug family as cyclosporine have been used to treat the disease in humans. Both misoprostol and cyclosporine are available to veterinarians, but not labeled for use with allergy indications, Olivry says.
Establishing similarities between atopic dermatitis in dogs and humans is another goal of Olivry's team.
For both kinds of patients, the disease has a strong genetic predisposition and an early age of onset, and is characterized by itching and sensitivities to pollens, molds, and house dustmites, as well as to food and insect allergens. Olivry hopes to find the source of the disease in dogs and one day apply that knowledge to studies on atopic dermatitis in children.
Owners watching for signs of atopic dermatitis in dogs should look for itching, redness, biting and inability to sleep at night, Olivry says. Terriers, retrievers, westies and dalmatians are some of the more susceptible breeds, he says.
--frisch--
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