Olfactory stem cells treating age-related behavioural disorders in dogs – a clinical case. Mengoli M1, Veron A.D.1, Royer D.², Bienboire-Frosini C. 1, Cozzi A. 1, Asproni A. 1, & Pageat P1. 1-
IRSEA (Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France 2 - CHVP (Pommery Veterinary Hospital Center), 226 Boulevard Pommery, 51100 Reims, France. Corresponding author:
[email protected] The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.
Age-related behavioural disorders commonly affect dogs and are often perceived by owners as the most serious signs of discomfort during the canine old age (Heath, 2002). Unfortunately, classical cares in aging dogs mostly fail; comorbidity and owner expectation usually influence the prognosis. In this context, stem cells could represent promising new autologous therapies thanks to their multipotency and high proliferation. New techniques are today available to collect, purify and culture canine olfactory stem cells with success (Veron et al., 2014). Clochard, a 17-year old, neutered, crossbreed dog was involved in our clinical research project, because of severe emotional and cognitive disorders. Before inclusion and biopsy, we performed complete medical, neurological and behavioural analyses. He showed a 3 (severe) as value in the Pugliese and colleagues (2010) neurodegeneration scale at the computerised tomography, 15 in the EVEC/ARCAD (Pageat, 1998; Colle et al., 2000) scale and 41 in the CCDR scale (Salvin et al., 2011), considered as inclusion criteria. One-hundred million olfactory stem cells were then amplified in culture over seven weeks and injected into the cerebrospinal fluid. The biopsy and cell graft did not induce side effects. Ten weeks later, emotional and cognitive disorders were progressively reduced, with decreased housesoiling. Clochard improved exploration, scanning and coping behaviours, despite his poor motility because of orthopaedic problems. VAS (visual analogue scales), video-recording, behavioural evaluations, blood samples and specific aging bio-markers (Aβ proteins and t-Tau) were collected to follow Clochard’s improvements and to increase our knowledge about this fundamental topic in clinical ethology.
