Abstract
BackgroundThe increased prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) in dogs necessitates research in its disease etiology.ObjectivesTo explore the association between puppyhood dietary exposures and prevalence of owner‐reported allergy/atopy skin signs (AASS) after the age of 1 year.AnimalsFour thousand and twenty‐two dogs were eligible, 1158 cases, and 2864 controls.MethodsThis cross‐sectional hypothesis‐driven observational study was extracted from the DogRisk food frequency questionnaire. Forty‐six food items and the ratio of 4 major diet types were tested for their association with AASS incidence later in life. Potential puppyhood dietary risk factors for AASS incidence were specified using binary multivariable logistic regression. The model was adjusted for age and sex.ResultsEating raw tripe (odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals OR, 95% CI = 0.36, 0.16‐0.79; P = .01), raw organ meats (OR, 95% CI = 0.23, 0.08‐0.67; P = .007), human meal leftovers, and fish oil supplements as well as eating more that 20% of the diet as raw and/or <80% of the diet as dry, in general, were associated with significantly lower AASS incidence in adulthood. In contrast, dogs fed fruits (OR, 95% CI = 2.01, 1.31‐3.07; P = .001), mixed‐oil supplements, dried animal parts, and dogs that drank from puddles showed significantly higher AASS incidence in adulthood.Conclusions and Clinical ImportancePuppyhood exposure to raw animal‐based foods might have a protective influence on AASS incidence in adulthood, while puppyhood exposure to mixed oils, heat processed foods and sugary fruits might be a potential risk factor of AASS incidence later. The study suggests a causal relationship but does not prove it.
Highlights
Atopic dermatitis (AD) in dogs is usually defined as an inflammatory allergic skin disease that begins during the first 3 years of life.[1,2] The worldwide atopic dermatitis (AD) prevalence in dogs was estimated to be approximately 10%-15% in 2001.3 In 2017, an owner-reported AD prevalence of 18.3% was reported in an earlier version of our own questionnaire data.[4]
The aim of the current study was to investigate the association of puppyhood dietary exposures with later owner-reported allergy/atopy skin signs (AASS) incidence using a broad range of food items reported by the owners in a food frequency questionnaire
Eight variables were significantly associated with the incidence of AASS later in life: Eating raw tripe, raw organ meats (OR, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 0.23, 0.08-0.67; P = .007), human meal leftovers, and fish oil supplement during puppyhood was associated with a significantly lower AASS incidence in adulthood
Summary
Atopic dermatitis (AD) in dogs is usually defined as an inflammatory allergic skin disease that begins during the first 3 years of life.[1,2] The worldwide AD prevalence in dogs was estimated to be approximately 10%-15% in 2001.3 In 2017, an owner-reported AD prevalence of 18.3% was reported in an earlier version of our own questionnaire data.[4]. Life environmental exposures, such as diet have been found to impact the development of the immune system and subsequently disease susceptibility later in life in both animals and humans alike.[5,6] This was first proposed by Strachan[7] who suggested that a lack of microbial exposure during childhood explains the increased prevalence of allergic diseases. Such exposures are supposed to be essential for programming the immune system and modifying its future inflammatory responses.[8] In light of the hygiene hypothesis, a reformulated hypothesis, known as the “microflora hypothesis,” has been proposed. The study suggests a causal relationship but does not prove it
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