Objective: to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a multimodal natural therapy on the control of pruritus in dogs with allergic dermatitis.

Animals: 15 privately owned dogs with clinical signs of allergic dermatitis such as moderate to severe pruritus.

Treatment groups:

• Treated: multimodal therapy ( Arcanatura Resolution-3^® system)  10 dogs
  • Natural shampoo: Standardized tinctures  of flowers of Calendula officinalis, and aerial parts of Urtica dioica and Hyptis capitata were prepared from fresh plants. The shampoo was prepared by adding the tinctures to the vehicle. The vehicle was prepared using naturally derived ingredients and contained decyl glucoside, an non ionic surfactant prepared from sugar and coconut, sodium cocosulfate, an anionic surfactant prepared from coconut oil, castile soap prepared from olive oil, Yucca glauca extract  a nonionic surfactant rich in saponin, and vegetable glycerin and honey as humectants. The vehicle was stabilized using glucose, lactoperoxidase and glucose oxidase as preservatives. The pH for all products was standardized to  7.0.  Dogs were washed with the shampoo on day 1,3,5,7,10,15 and 18.
  • Algal omega- 3 DHA: 20 mg per kg  sprayed on the food daily for 21 days. Omega 3 DHA has direct anti-inflammatory properties, promotes the resolution of inflammation and also has an anti-allergic role by inhibiting IgE production ( Weise et al 2011).
  • Liver detox food supplement containing glycerin extracts of artichoke, dandelion and figwort  sprayed on the food daily.

• Controls (5 dogs): conventional shampoo  containing surfactants (sodium lauryl ether sulfate and diethanolamide) and an antimicrobial ( triclosan). Dogs were washed with the shampoo on day 1,3,5,7,10,15 and 18.

Clinical evaluation:

            Pruritus severity was evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS) as previously described (Hill et al 2007, Rybnicek et al 2009). Briefly, the scale was designed to measure the severity of itching in dogs. The  range of possible values is from 0 ( normal dog, itching is non-existent ) to 10 (extremely severe itching , almost continuous; the dog needs to be physically  restrained from itching).

In addition, other clinical signs were assessed: erythema (scores from 0, none  to 4, extremely severe), the presence of acute moist dermatitis or hot spots ( 0, no; 1, yes) and self trauma ( 0, no; 1, yes). The total score for an individual animal on a given day was from 0 to 16. To avoid variations between clinicians, all scores were determined by the same veterinarian in one clinic specialized in small animal practice

Dogs were evaluated on day 1, 3, 7 and 21.

 Results:

 Washing the dogs with a conventional shampoo has a positive effect on symptoms of allergy (elimination of allergens from the fur and hydration of the skin). However the effect plateaued after 7 days (figure 2).

In contrast, the effect of treatment with Arcanatura Resolution-3 system was  much more pronounced  and sustained throughout the test period with a reduction of 70% of clinical signs ( vs 20% for the controls) after 21 days ( figure 1). Complete remission was achieved for 50% of the treated dogs vs. none of the controls. All dogs in the treated but not the controls showed improvement.

Figure 1: Percentage reduction  in clinical score.

 The evolution of clinical scores is summarized on figure 2. The difference between day 1 and 21 in  clinical scores is very significant for the treatment group (10.5 ± 2.15  vs. 2.9± 2.51 p<0.001) but not for the control (8± 1.73 vs. 6.4± 2.51 p=0.078) paired student t test analysis.

Figure 2: Effect of treatment on clinical scores

 Conclusions:  These results suggest that a natural multimodal treatment (Arcanatura Resolution-3^® system) associating a natural anti-inflammatory shampoo, omega-3 DHA and a liver detoxifying supplement can control pruritus in dogs with  allergic dermatitis .

References

Hill, P.B., Lau, B. and Rybnicek, J. 2007. Development of an owner-assessed scale to measure the severity of pruritus in dogs. Veterinary Dermatology, 18, 301-308.

Rybnicek, J., Lau- Gillard, P.J., Harvey, R. and Hill, P.B. 2009. Further evaluation of a pruritus severity scale for use in dogs. Veterinary Dermatology 20, 115-122.

Weise, C., Hilt, K., Milovanovic, M., Ernst, D., Rühl, R., and Worm, M. 2011. Inhibition of IgE production by docosahexaenoic acid is mediated by direct interference with STAT6 and NFkB pathway in human B cells. J. Nutritional Biochemistry. 22: 269-275.