Sára Sándor, Silvan Urfer, and Enikő Kubinyi (2022) argue that dogs provide unique opportunities to investigate aging and dementia. Unlike rodents, which do not naturally develop dementia-like conditions, dogs can suffer from Canine Cognitive Dysfunction (CCD), a syndrome that closely resembles human Alzheimer’s disease in both symptoms and neuropathology.
Because dogs live shorter lifespans than humans, the progression of CCD occurs over a compressed timeframe. This makes dogs highly suitable for identifying genetic and environmental risk factors and for conducting pre-clinical trials of interventions. The authors emphasize that biobanks collecting canine biological samples would provide an invaluable resource for advancing this research worldwide.
Such a global network could strengthen collaboration between veterinarians, scientists, and medical researchers, accelerating discoveries that improve both canine welfare and human health. Establishing canine biobanks could bridge critical gaps left by traditional laboratory animal models in dementia research.
Source: Sándor, S., Urfer, S., & Kubinyi, E. (2022). Toward establishing a worldwide net of canine biobanks. Aging (Albany NY), 14, 2436–2437. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204024
