Clinical application of insect-based diet in canine allergic dermatitis

Abstract

Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is an allergic skin disease that causes pruritus in dogs with genetic predisposition [1]. Cutaneous adverse food reaction (CAFR) is caused by food allergens and is a common allergic dermatosis that makes CAD difficult to control by triggering the flare of CAD [2,3]. It is generally characterized by non-seasonal pruritus, secondary infection associated with ingestion of various kinds of food allergens such as beef, dairy products, chicken, and wheat in dogs, and exhibit a partial-to-poor response to glucocorticoids [4,5]. As allergic skin reactions to food allergens present CAD-like clinical signs, it is challenging to clearly distinguishing CAFR from CAD based on lesion distribution alone [6,7]. The gold standard for diagnosis in CAFR is based on a strict elimination diet trial, resulting in improved clinical signs, followed by a provocative test. If the clinical signs relapse within a few minutes to several hours or up to 2 weeks after feeding the test food, CAFR is diagnosed. Even though the trial duration of an elimiThe objective of this study was to evaluate the beneficial effects of the short-term application of insect-based diet in canine allergic dermatitis. Total 19 atopic dogs with concurrent cutaneous adverse food reactions were enrolled and classified into 3 groups. The treatment group (n = 7) was fed insect-based diet, the positive control group (n = 6) was fed salmon-based diet, and the negative control group (n = 6) was fed commercial or homemade diet for 12 weeks. The degree of skin lesions was evaluated based on canine atopic dermatitis extent and severity index (CADESI-4). Additionally, transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and pruritus visual analog scale were evaluated. All indices were evaluated every 4 weeks after the initial administration of hypoallergenic diets. In the treatment group, significant decrease in the CADESI-4 score was observed at 8 weeks compared to the baseline score (p = 0.031). There were significant differences in the CADESI-4 score between the groups at 8 weeks (p = 0.008), 12 weeks (p = 0.012), and TEWL at 12 weeks (p = 0.022). This preliminary result demonstrates the potential hypoallergenicity of an insect-based diet through features that diminish cutaneous lesions and skin barrier dysfunction.