Highlights
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- The domestic dog meets ideal requirements for a model of human aging.
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- The domestic dog has naturally occurring disease conditions that closely mimic those of the human.
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- Numerous data sets have been produced to date, although they are limited by either inclusion or analysis limitations.
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- The dog has much data available that could use coordination between sources. There are also many areas of canine aging that have not been thoroughly investigated, thereby leaving areas of study open for further, new, or extended investigation.
Abstract
With
many caveats to the traditional vertebrate species pertaining to
biogerontology investigations, it has been suggested that a most
informative model is the one which: 1) examines closely related species,
or various members of the same species with naturally occurring
lifespan variation, 2) already has adequate medical procedures
developed, 3) has a well annotated genome, 4) does not require
artificial housing, and can live in its natural environment while being
investigated, and 5) allows considerable information to be gathered
within a relatively short period of time. The domestic dog
unsurprisingly fits each criterion mentioned. The dog has already become
a key model system in which to evaluate surgical techniques and novel
medications because of the remarkable similarity between human and
canine conditions, treatments, and response to therapy. The dog
naturally serves as a disease model for study, obviating the need to
construct artificial genetically modified examples of disease. Just as
the dog offers a natural model for human conditions and diseases, simple
observation leads to the conclusion that the canine aging phenotype
also mimics that of the human. Genotype information, biochemical
information pertaining to the GH/IGF-1 pathway, and some limited
longitudinal investigations have begun the establishment of the domestic
dog as a model of aging. Although we find that dogs indeed are a model
to study aging and there are many independent pieces of canine aging
data, there are many more “open” areas, ripe for investigation.
Keywords
- Canine aging,;
- Longevity,;
- Aging model,;
- Domestic dog,;
- IGF-1,;
- GH
Published by Elsevier Inc.
