![]() A dog's weight, metabolism, and pharmacokinetics are closer to a human's than is a rodent's, allowing therapeutics to be tested for efficacy and toxicity in larger doses before moving to human trials. As models, dogs are of a size suitable for surgical guidance and permit clinical evaluation over time. The canine genome has strong similarities to the human, and the increased size and complexity of the dog brain makes it a suitable large animal model of neurologic disease ( 1, 2). This is best shown by the numerous lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) that have been described in dogs and these models have and will continue to play a vital role in development of safe and efficacious treatments for humans ( 1). The strong recapitulation across species is pivotal for development of future therapies for human diseases. ![]() Dog models are bridging the gap in scientific studies because they share similar pathophysiology to their human counterparts. This is often attributed to a lack of appropriate animal models. Each year, children are born with rare and devastating diseases, and characterizing underlying pathologies remains a constant challenge. The utility of canine models of neurodegenerative diseases has increased over the last decade. The goal of the review is to discuss canine and human neurodegenerative pathophysiologic similarities, introduce the animal models, and shed light on the ability of canine models to facilitate current and future treatment trials. The present article is a review that highlights current canine models of human diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, degenerative myelopathy, neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, globoid cell leukodystrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, mucopolysaccharidosis, and fucosidosis. ![]() In particular, numerous models have been discovered in dogs and have a fundamental role in bridging proof of concept studies in mice to human clinical trials. Naturally occurring large animal models have predominantly been found in companion animals or livestock because of their emotional or economic value to modern society and, unlike mice, often recapitulate the human disease state. Nonetheless, more often than not mouse models do not reproduce the pathophysiology of the human conditions they are designed to mimic. Mouse models of human disease remain the bread and butter of modern biology and therapeutic discovery. ![]()
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