Frontiers in Veterinary Science最新文献

{"title":"Editorial: Outstanding advances in veterinary diagnostic ultrasonography: novel milestones in disease detection, prediction, and treatment.","authors":"Rio Hayashi, Hussein M El-Husseiny, Ryou Tanaka","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1675622","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1675622","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1675622"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12481605/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145206294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcriptional profiles of vaccine-induced protection in bovine herpesvirus-1 and <i>Mycoplasma bovis</i>-challenged bison.","authors":"Anna K Goldkamp, Bryan S Kaplan, Harish Menghwar, Carly R Kanipe, Paola M Boggiatto, Lauren S Crawford, Steven C Olsen, Robert E Briggs, Fred M Tatum, Rohana P Dassanayake, Eduardo Casas","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1667623","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1667623","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong><i>Mycoplasma bovis</i> causes chronic respiratory disease with high mortality rates in American bison (<i>Bison bison</i>). A recent study showed that a subunit vaccine containing <i>M. bovis</i> elongation factor thermal unstable (EFTu) and heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) antigens induced immunity and enhanced protection in bison, resulting in reduced lung lesions and bacterial loads following experimental <i>M. bovis</i> challenge. This study aimed to characterize the transcriptional responses underlying this protection in vaccinated (<i>n</i> = 5) compared to unvaccinated control (<i>n</i> = 4) bison following <i>M. bovis</i> infection.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Two doses of vaccines were administered on day 0 and at 21 days post-vaccination (DPV), followed by intranasal inoculation with bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) at 36 DPV and <i>M. bovis</i> at 40 DPV. RNA sequencing was performed on liver, palatine tonsil (PT), retropharyngeal lymph node (RPLN), tracheobronchial lymph node (TBLN), spleen, and whole blood samples. Blood was collected at 1st vaccination (Day 0), 2nd vaccination (21 days post-vaccination), BHV-1 inoculation (36 DPV), <i>M. bovis</i> inoculation (40 DPV), and 1 week post <i>M. bovis</i> inoculation (47 DPV).</p><p><strong>Results and discussion: </strong>The greatest number of differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) (≤0.05 FDR) were found in blood at 36 DPV (123 total DETs) and in spleen (57 DETs). At 36 DPV, vaccinated animals showed upregulation of transcripts involved in in cell adhesion, T-helper cell (Th1/Th2/Th17) differentiation, and antigen processing and presentation. This signifies a robust response to the 2nd vaccine dose, which caused increased expression of <i>CD3E</i>, <i>CD4</i>, and <i>CD8B</i> correlating to increased T cell proliferation. Notably, transcription factors <i>TBX21</i> and <i>GATA3</i> were upregulated in vaccinated animals. Spleen-specific regulation included transcripts involved in innate immune response, such as <i>LGALS3</i> and <i>GBP-1</i>. These findings highlight the robust immune response induced by the vaccine, particularly through T-cell mediated responses, demonstrating its potential to enhance protective immunity against <i>M. bovis</i> in bison.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1667623"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12479254/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145206319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"First detection of two cycloviruses in cormorant fecal samples in China by high-throughput sequencing technology.","authors":"Yifei Pei, Shiyu Cai, Yue Xue, Yutong Fu, Jingyue Zhang, Quan Shen, Likai Ji, Ping Wu, Hua Wang, Yan Wang, Wen Zhang, Shixing Yang","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1677378","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1677378","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The Great Cormorant (<i>Phalacrocorax carbo</i>) is widely distributed across China. As an apex predator in aquatic ecosystems, it plays a tripartite ecological role: acting as a natural host, transmission vector, and indicator species for viruses. Current research confirms that cormorants carry diverse viral pathogens from the families including <i>Flaviviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Paramyxoviridae</i>, and <i>Polyomaviridae</i>. Significant knowledge gaps persist regarding their virome diversity.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study,46 cormorant fecal swab samples were collected at Xiamen Garden Expo Park, and viralmetagenomics method was conducted to identify two Cycloviruses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study identified two novel cycloviruses, Corcyclo-1 (1,856 bp) and Corcyclo-2 (1,831 bp), from cormorant fecal samples using viral metagenomics. Genomic analyses revealed hallmark features of the genus Cyclovirus, including inversely oriented open reading frames (ORFs) encoding the capsid protein (Cap) and replication-associated protein (Rep), as well as a conserved stem-loop sequence TAATACTAT. The Rep gene of Corcyclo-1 contained a 166-bp intron and shared >96.9% amino acid identity with human-, wild boar-, and chicken-derived cyclovirus strains (HaCV-8) from Vietnam and Madagascar, classifying it as a novel strain of HaCV-8. In contrast, Corcyclo-2 harbored a 98-bp intron in its Rep gene and clustered with unclassified cyclovirus strains from bats and mongooses in China and Saint Kitts and Nevis (>97.4% identity), constituting a putative new species. Phylogenetic and pairwise sequence analyses further supported their taxonomic positions. Epidemiological screening demonstrated a high prevalence of Corcyclo-1 (82.6%, 38/46) and Corcyclo-2 (32.6%, 15/46) in cormorant feces. Cross-species surveillance detected Corcyclo-2 in chickens (25.8%, 16/62) and ducks (11.7%, 9/77), whereas Corcyclo-1 was absent in these hosts.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study represents the first report of cormorant-associated cycloviruses, highlighting their potential for cross-species transmission and providing new insights into the ecological diversity and evolutionary mechanisms of cyclovirus.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1677378"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12481609/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145206257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"OASIS evaluation of the French laboratory diagnostic surveillance system: right people, right techniques but imperfect use.","authors":"Maïssane Chikh, David Ngwa-Mbot, Eric Morignat, Sophie Memeteau, Jean-Philippe Amat","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1419034","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1419034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Laboratory diagnostic surveillance is the surveillance of incidents and the risk of incidents, resulting from the use of diagnostic tests. The role of this surveillance is to detect the potential mistakes in laboratories' analytic methods and defects in diagnostic tests. We assessed the diagnostic surveillance system dedicated to five cattle diseases in France: infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), brucellosis, hypodermosis, bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) and enzootic bovine leukosis, using OASIS, a method developed for the assessment of surveillance systems. Information regarding the organization and functioning was collected during semi-structured interviews with actors taking part in the laboratory diagnostic surveillance system, including staff at national reference laboratories, diagnosis laboratories, veterinarians, diagnostic test manufacturers, cattle owners' association and veterinary services. A scoring grid of 78 criteria was completed, based on the insights collected during the interviews. This scoring was then used for the calculation of seven surveillance critical control points based on the hazard analysis of critical control points approach and of ten quality attributes of the system. Key performance factors included: good technical management of laboratories, a monitoring of the performance of diagnostic tests by laboratories (intern control charts) and a good level of expertise for all actors. The areas of improvement were related to the lack of formalized bodies (steering committee, scientific and technical committee, coordinators, etc.), the lack of reporting guidelines, insufficient feedback to actors (regarding incidents and functioning of the system), and the absence of a definition of a case in laboratory diagnostic surveillance. In order to address these flaws, we recommend a new organization. Other main proposals for improvement included: establishing guidelines for reporting and investigating; raising the awareness of the actors concerning laboratory diagnostic surveillance; and establishing feedback meetings focused on the events of laboratory diagnostic surveillance. Such an evaluation should be conducted for other diseases and in other countries. It would be useful to share the results, especially within Europe, to implement improvements at the European level.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1419034"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12481612/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145206230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Case Report: Generalized motor tonic seizures characterized by paroxysmal fast activity on EEG in a Tonkinese cat.","authors":"Laura Brewińska, Paulina Drobot, Marcin Wrzosek","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1597258","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1597258","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders in cats, affecting 1%-2% of the feline population. Feline epilepsy can often be managed with standard anti-seizure medications, which typically offer moderate to good seizure control. However, a small subset of cats may experience drug-resistant epilepsy and require alternative treatment options. The scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying feline epilepsy has not yet reached the applicability seen in human studies. A deeper understanding of feline epilepsy will aid in developing effective treatment strategies. Electroencephalography (EEG) is an important tool for extending veterinary epilepsy classification. In the presented case, the disease was classified as idiopathic epilepsy with a Tier III confidence level according to the International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force classification. The seizures were further characterized as primarily generalized tonic, with occasional focal seizures also observed, and the condition met the criteria for drug-resistant epilepsy. EEG findings revealed typical spike, sharp and slow wave, and polyspike activity, along with atypical paroxysmal fast activity. Non-standard treatment with phenytoin demonstrated potential efficacy in this case.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1597258"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12481607/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145206311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Developing a veterinary professional \"identity\": first year veterinary students' perspectives on how they describe themselves now and as future veterinarians: 2017-2024.","authors":"Rodney S Bagley, Joyce Carnevale, Amelia Mindthoff","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1614449","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1614449","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>As an assignment in an introductory course to the profession, we asked first year veterinary students in their initial (fall) semester to identify words that they would use to describe themselves now and how they want to be described in the future as veterinarians.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using a Qualtrics survey instrument, students were asked to record five descriptive words in response to each of the following prompts: \"How would you describe yourself?\", \"How would you like your future veterinary colleagues to describe you?\", and \"How would you like your future clients to describe you?\" Students' responses were collected beginning in fall of 2017 (Class of 2021) through fall of 2024 (Class of 2028). Word choices were collated and ranked based on the number of times an individual word was recorded.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>While there was some variability from year to year, the five most common word choices for the prompt \"How would you describe yourself?\" were: \"Hard-working\", \"Kind\", \"Caring\", \"Compassionate\", and \"Determined\". The five most common word choices for the prompt \"How would you like your future veterinary colleagues to describe you?\" were: \"Hard-working\", \"Compassionate\", \"Knowledgeable\", \"Caring\", and \"Reliable\". The five most common word choices for the prompt \"How would you like your future clients to describe you?\" were: \"Compassionate,\" \"Knowledgeable\", \"Caring\", \"Kind\", and \"Empathetic\". The recorded rank for the most common descriptive word changed slightly over the study time to the prompts \"how would you describe yourself\" and the \"how would you want your colleagues to describe you\", but not the \"how would you want your clients to describe you\" prompt.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>These collective student responses provide insight into the origin of their veterinary \"identity\" as they enter the veterinary curriculum to become veterinarian professionals.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1614449"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12479336/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145206291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation of mtDNA analysis as a screening method prior to individual identification by short tandem repeat analysis of sika deer (<i>Cervus nippon</i>) for illegal disposal of hunting in Japan.","authors":"Aki Tanaka, Reina Ueda, Chihiro Udagawa, Toshinori Omi, Yuko Kihara, Shin-Ichi Hayama","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1599909","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1599909","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The sika deer (<i>Cervus nippon</i>) is subject to controlled abatements Japan, and in many areas hunters are subsidized by submitting tails from the dead deer. The carcasses must be properly disposed of after the tails are removed, and abandoning culled animals in the field is strictly prohibited by law. However, it has become an increasing legal problem that carcasses are left behind without proper disposal. In such cases, individual identification by DNA analysis has been considered useful to identify the culled animals and the suspects who abandoned the carcasses, and to provide scientific evidence for criminal investigations. In this study, the mtDNA D-loop region was analyzed in Sika deer using 285 deer samples with the aim of evaluating the capability of mtDNA markers as a screening method prior to performing individual identification by short tandem repeat analysis. Haplotype data obtained from 283 samples, excluding those with confirmed heteroplasmy, were used to calculate probability of random match, power to exclude, and genetic diversity. Twenty-three haplotypes were detected in 285 Japanese deer from the same local population, with mutations in the tandem repeat sequence and 48 different sites. The exclusion probability was 79.9%. The results suggested that mtDNA analysis provided moderate identification capability for screening. mtDNA analysis has proven to be a useful robust analysis in wildlife forensics when the samples were decayed and there were time and resource limitations, and is expected to be applied to solve illegal disposal of animal carcasses.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1599909"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12481610/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145206246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Repeated thyroid function evaluations in the dog: a retrospective study of 8,309 dogs.","authors":"Anita M Oberbauer, Janelle M Belanger, Brian K Petroff, Diane E Brown, Christopher R Wolfe, Thomas R Famula","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1653398","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1653398","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hypothyroidism in dogs is a common diagnosis with some breeds being more prone to the condition. Autoimmune thyroiditis has an inherited component. Breeders wish to reduce the incidence by any means possible. Currently, the only opportunity lies in phenotypic testing of thyroid functionality. This retrospective study evaluated thyroid hormone and thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TgAA) analyses in dogs assessed multiple times to determine if the outcome changed over time. Data were extracted from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) database for 8,309 dogs which had been evaluated two or more times and the initial classification was compared to a final classification. More than 90% of dogs evaluated as normal for thyroid function remained normal in follow-up assessments. The greatest change was seen for dogs initially evaluated as equivocal; this was followed by a compensative autoimmune thyroiditis diagnosis being revised to normal, though 50% of the latter evaluation remained classified as compensative autoimmune thyroiditis. This suggests the presence of low levels of autoantibodies may be transient and that a dog presenting with autoantibodies should be reevaluated to confirm the development of autoimmune thyroiditis.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1653398"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12477693/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145199082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Resting heart and respiratory rates in dogs in their natural environment: new insights from a long-term, international, prospective study in a cohort of 703 dogs using a biometric device for longitudinal non-invasive cardiorespiratory monitoring (the AI-COLLAR study).","authors":"Valérie Chetboul, Eric Humbert, Louis Dougoud, Guillaume Lorre","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1667355","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1667355","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Wearable devices are increasingly used in human medicine to monitor various cardiovascular parameters and support heart health. Similar tools have recently emerged in veterinary medicine. However, their current limitation is the lack of large-scale data in healthy animals, a prerequisite for identifying potentially pathological variations using artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To establish a large database of resting heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) recorded over extended periods using a commercially available biometric health-monitoring device in a large international cohort of apparently healthy (AH) dogs.</p><p><strong>Animals: </strong>703 AH dogs (median age [interquartile range] = 3.8 years [2.2-7.2]; body weight = 23.0 kg [14.8-31.8]).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Prospective observational study (2022-2025) including AH dogs of any age, breed, and sex, provided owners confirmed their dog's apparent good health via a dedicated questionnaire.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Median device wear time was 189.0 days [51.0-433.0]. Both HR and RR significantly decreased early in life, then stabilized, with a slight increase in older dogs. Both were also lower at night than during the day (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). In dogs living in the Northern Hemisphere, HR and RR showed opposite significant seasonal patterns. Effects of sex, weight and breed were also analyzed.</p><p><strong>Conclusion and clinical importance: </strong>This unique large-scale biometric study provides real-world reference data on resting HR and RR in dogs and the influence of intrinsic (age, sex, weight, breed) and extrinsic (circadian rhythm, season) factors on these vital signs, thus offering new insights into canine cardiorespiratory physiology under natural conditions, and laying the foundation for future AI-based detection of abnormal patterns.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1667355"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12477687/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145199157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wellness-enhancing effects of the canine growth hormone releasing hormone therapy mediated by plasmid and electroporation in healthy old dogs.","authors":"Min-Ok Ryu, Sung-Moon Kim, J Joseph Kim, Hyun Namkung, Ho Kyoung Jung, Hee Jin Nam, Charles C Reed, Ga-Hyun Lim, Eun Jin Kim, Hwa-Young Youn","doi":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1609405","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fvets.2025.1609405","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Aging leads to increased disease susceptibility and weakened immunity, a condition known as immunosenescence. The growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH)/growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) axis plays a key role in both somatic growth and immune modulation. This study evaluated the clinical and immunological effects of a canine GHRH-encoding plasmid delivered by electroporation in 30 healthy senior dogs (aged 10-16 years). Dogs received a single intramuscular injection and were monitored over 180 days. Significant improvements were observed in clinical scores, with 90% of dogs showing increased well-being based on owner-assessed measures including appetite, activity, and exercise tolerance. Limb thickness, used as a surrogate for muscle mass, significantly increased in both hindlimbs by day 180. While mean serum IGF-1 concentrations did not change overall, post-hoc stratification revealed that dogs with low baseline IGF-1 (<90 ng/mL) showed substantial increases, whereas those with high baseline levels tended to decrease. This bidirectional modulation suggests feedback-sensitive regulation of the GHRH-GH-IGF-1 axis. Flow cytometry demonstrated increases in total CD3+ T cells, as well as naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets, indicating a potential delay in immunosenescence. The therapy was well-tolerated, with no serious adverse effects reported; hematologic abnormalities and gastrointestinal symptoms were transient and resolved without intervention. These findings suggest that GHRH-encoding plasmid therapy may improve clinical condition and modulate immune function in aging dogs, warranting further investigation into its long-term efficacy and potential applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":12772,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Veterinary Science","volume":"12 ","pages":"1609405"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12477696/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145199075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}