• 加密货币市场的波动性引起了全球投资者和监管机构的密切关注。
  • 在线教育平台的兴起改变了传统教育模式。
  • 随着全球健康危机的持续,公共卫生体系的完善成为紧迫议题。
  • 随着全球健康危机的持续,公共卫生体系的完善成为紧迫议题。
  • 随着技术的发展,智能家居设备正在改变日常生活。
  • 社交媒体对政治选举的影响力日益显著。
  • 全球健康危机加速了医疗保健行业的数字化转型。
  • 太空探索的商业化为航天产业带来了新的投资热潮。
  • 随着在线教育的普及,传统教育模式正面临挑战。
  • 电子商务的快速发展正在重塑全球零售和供应链管理。
  • 自动化和机器人技术在制造业中的应用提高了生产效率和安全性。
  • 大数据和机器学习在商业决策中的作用日益凸显。
  • 人工智能在医疗领域的应用正在改变疾病诊断和治疗的方式。
  • 随着技术的发展,智能家居和自动化生活正在成为现实。
  • 社交媒体的算法调整引发了公众对隐私保护的担忧。
  • 随着人们对健康意识的提高,健康食品和生活方式受到更多关注。
  • 生物技术的进步为疾病治疗和健康管理带来了新的希望。
  • 可持续消费和环保生活方式成为越来越多消费者的选择。
  • 电子商务的快速发展正在重塑全球零售和供应链管理。
  • 太空探索的商业化为航天产业带来了新的增长点。
  • 人工智能在医疗、金融和制造业等多个领域的应用日益广泛。
  • 全球健康危机凸显了公共卫生体系的重要性和改革的必要性。
  • 电子竞技成为年轻人中流行的娱乐方式。
  • 在线健身和虚拟健身课程在疫情期间迅速流行。
  • 虚拟现实和增强现实技术在教育和娱乐领域的应用不断拓展。
  • The unrecognized potential of pet cats for studying aging and age-related diseases | Ladiges | Aging Pathobiology and Therapeutics
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    The unrecognized potential of pet cats for studying aging and age-related diseases


    Warren Ladigesa,*

    a Department of Comparative Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

    * Corresponding author: Warren Ladiges
    Mailing address: Department of Comparative Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
    E-mail: wladiges@uw.edu

    Received: 22 November 2021 / Accepted: 26 November 2021

    DOI: 10.31491/APT.2021.12.069

    Abstract

    Old cats develop chronic diseases similar to diseases in older people. One-fourth of American households own cats, and almost half are more than 7 years old. Cats share the same environment and are exposed to many of the same chemical stresses. In addition, genomic diversity and population stratification are similar to that occurring in people. With these comparative features, the aging cat represents a geroscience model to investigate the pathogenesis and therapeutic interventions for aging. However, cats are generally not recognized as a translational model for aging research mainly because of the lack of knowledge and appreciation within the scientific community. In addition, cat owners are not aware of any research programs designed to enhance healthy aging in their pets because none exist. Much work is needed to inform and educate the scientific community as well as cat owners about the power of aging cats as a transformative model to investigate aging and age-related diseases that will benefit both human and feline health.

    Keywords

    Aging cats, age-related diseases, healthy aging, geroscience

    The geroscience approach assumes that all diseases that affect primarily older adults have a common and major underlying cause of declining function and resilience that is part of the aging process [1]. Research is proving this concept, using a variety of clinical and preclinical approaches. For preclinical studies, animal models generally have advantages of shorter lifespans and various similarities in biological aging, and access to multiple tissues for laboratory assessments. However, current animal models of aging have one or more shortcomings such as lack of a comparable human disease, different pathogenesis of a comparable human disease, different environments than humans, lack of heterogeneity, lack of naturally occurring age-related disease, and dissimilar co-morbidity profiles compared to older people. These disadvantages provide the rationale to consider alternate animal models phylogenetically close to humans that will replicate the aging process in a relatively short period of time and provide a source of naturally occurring chronic diseases similar to humans, capable of responding to therapeutic interventions that will accurately predict positive results in people. The domestic pet cat is a novel model of aging with these attributes and deserves to be developed and validated.
    The aging pet cat represents a large population available for preclinical studies. According to the 2017-2018 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook, an estimated 25 percent of American households own pet cats and the percentage older than 10 years is increasing. Feline lifespan is estimated at 15 years, although this varies based on geographic location, outdoor access, sex, breed, and other factors [2, 3]. Older cats experience chronic kidney disease, osteoarthritis, cognitive impairment, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. The relationship of aging with these chronic disease conditions is still not well understood, but increasing age is a major risk factor. In this regard, the application of the geroscience concept for investigating diseases of aging in the cat would provide a natural model to develop scientifically sound strategies for aging intervention studies in people. Not only is the rationale for developing a naturally occurring aging model in cats based on comorbidities, but the fact that pet cats share the same environment and live in the same households as people provide an even more convincing rationale. In addition, the feline genetic architecture is the product of random mating, and as a result, genomic diversity and population stratification are similar to that occurring in people.
    One striking but underappreciated and understudied condition associated with older age in pet cats is cognitive impairment (CI). While CI can be caused by a number of disease conditions, there is no evidence to suggest that cats develop neuropathology lesions very similar to neuropathology lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in people [4, 5]. These lesions include amyloid plaques and tau fibrillary tangles, which in combination are seen in domestic cats and humans, but generally not other mammals. The relationship of these neuropathology lesions with CI has not yet been investigated in cats. Another unique aspect of aging in cats in the development of type 2 diabetes in relation to obesity and insulin resistance similar to humans [6]. Cats respond clinically to diabetic medications including insulin just as humans do and are often on long-term treatment for this condition [7]. Hypertension is very common in older cats and, as in humans, is not well understood [8]. Chronic kidney disease is also very common in older cats [9] and complications can be a frequent cause of death or at least a driving rationale for humane euthanasia. The relationship of progressive renal failure to hypertension would be a fertile model for research on the underlying causes of hypertension. Cardiomyopathy is another common disease condition in cats [10].
    In summary, cats are novel in that they develop chronic age-related disease conditions similar to the corresponding disease in older people. These diseases can be managed medically by pet cat owners for years, and thus represent similar chronic comorbidities as seen in humans. In this regard, investigating the relationship between systemic comorbidities and aging in cats will help to better clarify underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms and identify targets for aging intervention studies. So why is more research on aging not being done in pet cats? One explanation is that there is very little research funding to support pilot studies, model development, or infrastructure types of projects. This is reflected by uninformed scientific review committees that do not appreciate the high impact that a cat aging project would have. Therefore, more work is needed to inform and educate not only the scientific community but also pet cat owners who have the power in numbers to be heard. The message is that the aging pet cat fits well within the geroscience concept as a transformative model to investigate pathways of aging and effectively treat age-related diseases that would benefit both human and feline health.

    Declarations

    Authors’ contributions

    The author contributed solely to the article.

    Availability of data and materials

    Not applicable.

    Financial support and sponsorship

    This work was supported in part by R24 AG047115.

    Conflict of interest

    Warren Ladiges is a member of the Editorial Board of The author declares that there are no conflicts.

    Ethical approval and consent to participate

    Not applicable.

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