Systemic Inflammation in Dogs With Atopic Dermatitis Compared to Healthy Dogs and Dogs With Pemphigus Foliaceus: A Study Using a Limited Cytokine Panel.

No significant serum cytokine differences were found between atopic, healthy, or pemphigus foliaceus dogs using this limited panel.

This prospective observational study investigated whether canine atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with measurable systemic inflammation, analogous to findings in human AD where the condition is increasingly recognized as a systemic disease. Forty client-owned dogs were divided into four groups of ten: healthy controls, mild AD, moderate-to-severe AD, and pemphigus foliaceus (PF) as a positive inflammatory control. Serum concentrations of six cytokines—TNF-α, TNF-β/lymphotoxin-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA)—were quantified via standardized immunoassays. No statistically significant differences in any cytokine were detected among the four groups, including between moderate-to-severe AD dogs and healthy controls, or between AD dogs and the PF positive control group. High interindividual variability was observed across all groups. The authors acknowledge several important limitations: small sample size (n=10 per group), the restricted scope of the cytokine panel (which did not include Th2-associated cytokines such as IL-4, IL-13, or IL-31 that are more central to AD pathogenesis), and the possibility that relevant systemic inflammatory signals occur at the tissue rather than serum level. These findings do not definitively rule out systemic inflammation in canine AD but highlight the need for larger studies employing broader, disease-relevant cytokine panels to adequately characterize the systemic immunological profile of this condition.

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