Recent advances in diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for canine cognitive dysfunction

Canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder among geriatric dogs, characterized by disorientation, interaction changes, sleep-wake cycle disturbances, house soiling, activity level changes, and anxiety. Canine cognitive dysfunction is currently underdiagnosed due to the lack of an objective and reliable diagnostic tool, and treatment options are severely limited. Importantly, CCD shares common pathological hallmarks of human Alzheimer disease, such as β-amyloid accumulation, τ protein phosphorylation, neuronal loss, and neuroinflammation. β-Amyloid deposits in Alzheimer disease and CCD appear in 2 main forms: extracellular amyloid plaques, which disrupt synaptic function and contribute to neurotoxicity, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy, where β-amyloid accumulates in the walls of cerebral blood vessels. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy leads to vascular dysfunction, chronic hypoxia, microhemorrhages, and neuroinflammation, further exacerbating cognitive decline. Research into these shared pathologies offers potential therapeutic targets that could benefit both canine and human patients suffering from these neurodegenerative disorders. In this article, we review the latest understanding of CCD pathology and discuss new advancements in diagnostic and therapeutic options as well as the outlook of the CCD disorder.