Is ‘wool sucking’ behavior inherited in cats?

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Each year, the Winn Feline Foundation receives proposals from veterinary researchers around the world who are interested in improving feline health. To date, Winn’s cumulative total in feline health research funding exceeds $4 million. Forty-four proposals were submitted by researchers seeking funding in this review cycle. This year, our team of veterinary consultants helped Winn select 10 projects for funding, for a total of $174,018. Here is one of those projects:

W12-040
“Wool sucking” behavior in Siamese and Birman cats
Investigators: Nicholas Dodman, Edward Ginns; Tufts University

“Wool sucking” is a behavioral condition that involves the repetitive searching, suckling, chewing and ingestion of non-food items. While items made of wool can be the preferred substrate, cats may also seek out and chew items made of cotton, rubber, nylon, paper, cardboard and plastic. A negative consequence of this behavior is breakdown of the human-animal bond due to owners’ frustration with property damage. In its most severe form, the cat cannot be maintained safely as an indoor cat. While wool sucking behavior can occur in any cat breed, the incidence is higher in oriental breeds, suggesting a genetic susceptibility. To identify potential genetic components of the compulsive “wool sucking” behavior in cats, DNA samples will be collected via saliva from normal and affected Siamese and Birman cats. Since “wool sucking” is an excellent animal model of human obsessive-compulsive behaviors, the identification of a genetic cause could lead to development of carrier testing, as well as better treatment options for both cats and humans with these disorders.

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Cats and sweet tastes

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Jiang P, Josue J, Li X, et al. Major taste loss in carnivorous mammals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012;109:4956-4961.
 
Believe it or not, the ability to taste sweets is not universal. Sweetness is detected by a specific receptor protein (‘taste bud’) in the tongue. Cats are known to be insensitive to sweet tastes, at least behaviorally, but the specific reason was not known until a few years ago. These researchers analyzed the genes encoding the taste buds in twelve different carnivorous species, including cats. They found that those species such as cats, whose diet is exclusively meat-based, had lost the gene encoding the taste bud for sweetness. Other affected species included dolphins, sea lions, seals, otters, and hyenas. It appears that the ability to taste sweets has been lost in most carnivorous species – what a terrible loss! [MK]

See also: Li X, Li W, Wang H, et al. Pseudogenization of a sweet-receptor gene accounts for cats' indifference toward sugar. PLoS genetics 2005;1:27-35. [Free, full text]

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Treatment of feline ocular herpesvirus infection

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Each year, the Winn Feline Foundation receives proposals from veterinary researchers around the world who are interested in improving feline health. To date, Winn’s cumulative total in feline health research funding exceeds $4 million. Forty-four proposals were submitted by researchers seeking funding in this review cycle. This year, our team of veterinary consultants helped Winn select 10 projects for funding, for a total of $174,018. Here is one of those projects:

W12-042
Development and in vitro optimization of hydrogels for the delivery of FHV specific siRNAs encapsulated in chitosan nanoparticles
Investigators: Rebecca Wilkes, Scott Lenaghan, Christopher Stephens; University of Tennessee

Feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1) typically causes respiratory disease in cats. However, chronic infections can cause severe eye disease that may lead to blindness. Currently there is no effective treatment for these chronic cases. Previous Winn funding has helped the investigators design a therapeutic agent – small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) – which use the cell’s own machinery to inhibit viral replication through the targeting of essential herpesvirus genes. The investigators have developed a nanoparticle delivery vehicle composed of chitosan, a nontoxic substance, to package these siRNAs for delivery into cells. The goal of this study is to develop a hydrogel, similar to a soft contact lens, for delivery of the nanoparticles. The hydrogel can be placed directly into the cat’s eye, allowing for successful drug uptake. This method will also provide extended continuous delivery of the FHV-1 specific siRNAs into the cells of the cornea. This study will potentially lead to development of a product suitable for use in cats’ eyes for the treatment of FHV-1 infections.

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Feline obesity: activity levels & feeding frequency

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Deng P, Grant RW, Swanson KS. Physical activity level of adult cats with varied feeding frequency. Br J Nutr 2011;106 Suppl 1:S166-169.
 
There are more than a few reasons for obesity in cats, not the least of which are low activity levels and overconsumption of food. These researchers investigated the effect that frequency of feeding had on the activity level of cats to answer the question: Will feeding more frequently increase activity levels? Twelve healthy adult cats were fed 2 meals per day for one month and then 4 meals per day for another month. The amount of food provided was sufficient to maintain the cats’ current body weight. Activity levels were measured with activity monitors on the cats’ collars. Daily average activity levels were not different when the cats were fed more frequently – back to the drawing board! [MK]

See also: German AJ. The growing problem of obesity in dogs and cats. J Nutr 2006;136:1940S-1946S. [Free full text article]

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Feline heart disease and pimobendan

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Hambrook LE, Bennett PF. Effect of pimobendan on the clinical outcome and survival of cats with non-taurine responsive dilated cardiomyopathy. J Feline Med Surg 2012;14:233-239.
 
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is an uncommon form of cardiac disease in cats that can lead to congestive heart failure (CHF), aortic thromboembolism (ATE), arrhythmias, and sudden death. Taurine deficiency was found to be a major cause of feline DCM in 1987. Subsequent supplementation with taurine of cat foods has significantly reduced, yet not eliminated the incidence of feline DCM. This study looked at the effect of pimobendan on the median survival time (MST) of cats with non-taurine responsive dilated cardiomyopathy. Thirty-two client owned cats were divided into pimobendan (n=16) and non-pimobendan (n=16) treatment groups. All the cats received standard treatment of frusemide, taurine, and benazepril or enalapril. The MST of the pimobendan group (49 days, range 1 to > 502 days) was four times as long as the non-pimobendan group (12 days, 1 to 244 days). Pimobendan therapy appears to improve the survival time of cats with non-taurine responsive DCM. Pimobendan therapy was not associated with adverse effects in the cats. Hypothermia and fractional shortening (FS) of <20% were associated with a poor prognosis in cats. [VT]

See also: MacGregor JM, Rush JE, Laste NJ, et al. Use of pimobendan in 170 cats (2006–2010). J Vet Cardiol 2011;13:251-260.

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Microsatellite instability and a defective Heat Shock protein are linked in Colorectal Cancer

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A review of the recent Nature paper: Expression of a mutant HSP110 sensitizes colorectal cancer cells to chemotherapy and improves disease prognosis.Dorard C, de Thonel A, Collura A, Marisa L, Svrcek M, Lagrange A, ..., Parc Y, Tiret E, Fléjou JF, Gaub MP, Garrido C, Duval A  Nat Med. 2011 Oct; 17(10):1283-9
Microsatellite instability (MSI) is a well-known feature of a subset of colorectal cancer (CRC) that harbors a defective DNA mismatch system. MSI CRC is characterised by an improved prognosis and may not benefit from adjuvant fluorouracil (5FU) therapy in particular stages. Interestingly, this paper provides a possible MSI-related mechanism with possible implications for treatment and stratification.The authors found that MSI CRCs can be associated to an aberrant splicing of the heat shock protein HSP111, producing an aberrant isoform, namely HSP110DeltaE9. The overexpression of this isoform in CRC cells affects the function of the naïve protein and increases the sensitivity to 5FU. So, if those cells are more sensitive to 5FU, why clinical trials show that MSI may not respond to this drug? The authors say that subjects with MSI-HSP110DeltaE9 (high) represent only a small fraction of the total MSI CRC cases and clinical heterogeneity is present in this group with respect to 5FU response. Interestingly, this aberrant molecule could be considered a natural inhibitor of HSP110, which has been found overexpressed in CRC and other tumors and associated with poor prognosis and metastases.TweetShare

1) Introduzione al Tumore del Colon-retto

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Primo episodio del videolog sul tumore del colon retto. Gli argomenti trattati sono l'epidemiologia, i fattori di rischio, la prevenzione e cenni di terapia. Questo video e' adeguato al pubblico generale e non sostituisce il parere del medico curante cui e' sempre necessario rivolgersi. Spero sia utile a chi vuole o ha bisogno di capire qualcosa in piu' su questa malattia. a presto Gm

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