China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2022, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (3): 1189-1199.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2022.03.042

• Clinical Veterinary Medicine • Previous Articles    

Research Progress on Canine Pruritic Skin Diseases

MING Yuexiang1, WANG Weixin1,2, YANG Xiaoyu1,2, ZHANG Di1, LIN Jiahao1,2   

  1. 1. College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China;
    2. Center of Research and Innovation of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
  • Received:2021-08-22 Online:2022-03-05 Published:2022-03-03

Abstract: Pruritus is one of the typical clinical symptoms of dermatosis in canine, which is usually accompanied by other skin symptoms such as alopecia and erythema.The pruritus not only troubles the animal itself, but also affects the life quality of the pet-owner.The mechanism of itching is complex.At present, there have been a large number of clinical and basic researches on pruritus diseases in humans and dogs at home and abroad, revealing the relationship between pruritus and the neuroimmune system, and introducing the concept of "pruritus-scratching" cycle, and indicating that the independent effects of the immune system, the skin barrier and the nervous system and the interaction between them are the key factors in pruritus, and any problem in them can start the "pruritus-scratching" cycle.The clinical etiology of pruritic skin diseases in canine is complex.Refering to the the classification of pruritus which was proposed by International Forum for the Study of Itch in 2007, the diseases that cause pruritus are divided into six categories correspondingly according to the etiology, and the diseases which can cause dermatologic pruritus are divided infectious diseases, allergic diseases, neoplastic diseases, and the most important in clinic is canine allergic pruritus.The diagnostic methods and differential diagnosis of canine pruritic skin diseases are diverse, and the information collected from various aspects of the sick dogs are needed.The differential diagnosis are carried out step by step in a certain sequence.There are still problems in the treatment of canine pruritic skin diseases, such as long treatment cycles and easy recurrence of the disease.At present, the commonly used western medicine drugs have disadvantages such as large side effects, single target and high price, and the Chinese medicine prescription which has complex components has many effective components, so it can treat pruritus with complex mechanism through multiple channels and multiple approaches, which has advantages and broad prospects in the treatment of canine pruritic skin disease.This article reviewed the latest pruritus mechanism, classification and diagnosis of canine pruritic skin diseases, and Chinese and Western medicine treatment ideas, so as to provide a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of clinical pruritus-related diseases in small animals.

Key words: canine; pruritus; mechanism; classification; diagnosis

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