Canine Chronic Enteropathies: Epidemiological Study, and New Prognostic and Therapeutic Aspects.

Gastrointestinal (GI) signs are daily concerns for veterinarian patients and chronic enteropathy (CE) is considered the main cause of chronic and persistence GI signs. Similar to human being, the combination of underlying host genetic susceptibility, inappropriate immune responses, dysbiosis, and dietary and/or environmental factors are suspected as main contributing factors in the pathogenesis of canine CE. CE in dogs can further be subdivided retrospectively by response to treatment into: food-responsive enteropathy (FRE), antibiotic-responsive enteropathy (ARE), or idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In addition to this classification, dogs with loss of protein across the gut are grouped as protein-losing enteropathy (PLE). The purpose of the thesis was to review the literature in matter of CE and report the investigations performed during the author’s PhD focused on the different aspects of the disease. The etiopathogenesis was evaluated considering the role of duodenal epithelial distribution of enterochromaffin cells in dogs with IBD. Breed or sex predisposition in Italian population and clinical signs associated with the disease were examined. Results confirm that CE is the most frequent diagnosis in dogs referred for chronic GI signs. Furthermore we identify that certain Italian breeds and male dogs are predisposed to develop CE. Moreover, treatment with extruded vegetable diet and a probiotic (Saccharomyces boulardii) were evaluated with promising results. Finally, identification of prognostic factors in dogs with IBD and PLE were investigated. In conclusion, CE is a common disorder with variable prognosis from favorable to poor, in both dogs and humans. Unfortunately, even though GI disease is currently an intense area of study, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment are still not completely understood. For this reason, the scientific research concerning CE is important for canine health and shares a common interest with human medicine.