Relationship between serum cortisol and cognitive changes in elderly dogs

• Grant number: 18/10554-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2019
• End date: September 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Deise Carla Almeida Leite Dellova
• Grantee: Natalí Faria Martins Romano
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Due to veterinary medicine advances, dogs are living longer and elderly patients with cognitive dysfunction are part of the clinical routine. In addition, hypercortisolism may be related to cognitive dysfunction, because the cortisol excess changes the structure and functions of the hippocampus: the brain area responsible for learning and memory. Therefore, it is relevant to study the relationship between serum cortisol concentration and cognitive changes in elderly dogs. In this project, elderly dogs (> 10 years of age), of both sexes of any race, in good general condition and without systemic alterations will undergo clinical evaluation, baseline serum cortisol measurement (by radioimmunoassay) and a selective attention cognitive test. The respective tutors will also respond to a questionnaire to identify cognitive changes. Considering that hyperadrenocorticism (HAC) is characterized by chronic tissue exposure to high cortisol, the same evaluations will be performed in dogs newly diagnosed with HAC and under treatment with Trilostane. It is expected to identify cognitive alterations in elderly dogs and with HAC, associated with hypercortisolism. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ROMANO, NATALI FARIA MARTINS; DE RAMOS, ELOISE CRISTINA; BRANDI, ROBERTA ARIBONI; DELLOVA, DEISE CARLA ALMEIDA LEITE. Evaluation of the response to a food-searching task in older dogs with and without cognitive impairment. JOURNAL OF VETERINARY BEHAVIOR-CLINICAL APPLICATIONS AND RESEARCH, v. 52-53, p. 7-pg., 2022-06-15. (18/10554-7)