title: Toward a canine model of atopic dermatitis: amplification of cytokine-gene transcripts in the skin of atopic dogs.
abstract: The objectives of the present study were to characterize and compare the repertoire of cytokine-genes transcribed in skin homogenates obtained from normal dogs and dogs with atopic dermatitis (AD) using a reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and canine-specific cytokine-gene primers. Whereas IL-4 and IL-5 cytokine-gene transcripts were detected more commonly in atopic skin biopsy homogenates, IL-2 mRNA was amplified more often from normal control specimens. IFN-gamma mRNA was detected in 5/29 atopic specimens, 4 of them obtained from the only dog with chronic skin lesions. One-fourth of atopic samples exhibited clear type-2 cytokine profiles; the remainder did not demonstrate polarized repertoires. Conversely, type-1 cytokine profiles were characterized in one-fourth of normal control specimens. The present study establishes, for the first time, the transcription of type-2 cytokine-genes in the skin of dogs with AD. Future experiments investigating the cellular origin and dynamics of allergic cytokine-gene transcription are needed to confirm whether or not canine AD could be considered an immunological model for a human disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal and Special Species Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27606, USA. Thierry_Olivry@ncsu.edu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Olivry
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Dean
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Tompkins
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Dow
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000235:genetics; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000235:genetics; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015848:Interleukin-5; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018664:Interleukin-12; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma