title: Magnetic resonance imaging of cerebral involutional changes in dogs as markers of aging: an innovative tool adapted from a human visual rating scale.
abstract: The dog is increasingly considered as a natural animal model for the study of normal and pathological human brain aging, because it exhibits anatomical, biochemical and cognitive changes that parallel those seen in humans. This study presents a novel visual semi-quantitative rating scale of canine cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Ninety-eight dogs of both sexes from 27 pure breeds, aged 2-15 years, were used. The results suggest that (like in humans) both hippocampal and progressive global atrophy are characteristic features that correlate with aging. When classified according to head shape, cerebral atrophy was highest in mesaticephalic and brachycephalic dogs. This is the first MRI study to characterise a simple, rapid tool for studying age-related canine brain changes that can even be applied by non-experienced observers. The results confirm the possibility of transferring innovative tools developed for human diagnosis to the veterinary field.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Bioquímica, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. marcopugliese@ub.edu
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pugliese
authors.forename: Josep Lluís
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Carrasco
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gomez-Anson
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Angels
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zamora
authors.forename: Manuel José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mascort
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mahy
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D054022:Cerebrum / Q000473:pathology*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male