title: Establishing a canine superficial pyoderma model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pyoderma, predominantly associated with Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, is a common skin infection of dogs that typically requires long-lasting treatments, complicated by increasing antimicrobial resistance. To investigate new treatment strategies, we aimed at establishing a dog model of pyoderma that closely mimics the natural disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We inoculated six laboratory beagles with a methicillin-susceptible strain of S. pseudintermedius. One millilitre of approximately 107, 108, 109CFU per ml was topically applied onto clipped and tape stripped area of dog skin, which was then treated with a dermaroller (microneedle size: 500 μm) immediately after administration. Dogs were monitored daily, suspect pustules were cultured for S. pseudintermedius and evaluated by cytological and histopathological methods. After 24 h, all dogs developed papules and pustules at all three bacterial inoculation sites, which worsened over the next 48 h. Cytological samples of all skin lesions revealed neutrophils with intracellular cocci. Histopathology confirmed subcorneal neutrophilic pustular dermatitis with intralesional cocci and acantholytic keratinocytes, consistent with superficial pyoderma. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius was isolated from pustules of all dogs and confirmed to be the inoculating strain. The results were replicated in all dogs after a wash out period of 6 weeks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data demonstrate the feasibility of establishing a dog model of pyoderma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The new model can be used to evaluate novel prevention and treatment options for canine pyoderma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bäumer
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bizikova
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Linder
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000150:complications / Q000662:veterinary; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011711:Pyoderma / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013207:Staphylococcal Skin Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Staphylococcus pseudintermedius; canine; infection; pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; pyoderma; veterinary