Birth mass is the key to understanding the negative correlation between lifespan and body size in dogs

Fan, Rong; Olbricht, Gayla R.; Baker, Xavior; Hou, Chen

doi:10.18632/aging.101081

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(108 reference statements)

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“…Yet, within species this pattern is reversed (Metcalfe and Monaghan 2003;Austad 2010;Bartke 2017). This pattern is welldocumented in domestic dogs (Galis et al 2007;Kraus et al 2013;Fan et al 2016) where larger dog breeds (e.g., Bernese Mountain Dog, mean lifespan = 7 years) have an expected lifespan that is approximately half that of smaller breeds (e.g., Chihuahua, mean lifespan = 13 years; Jones et al 2008). While large breeds take longer to mature than small breeds, they weigh disproportionately more, and therefore have faster growth rates and an accelerated pace of physiological aging (e.g., cellular damage; Fick et al 2012;Kraus et al 2013;Fan et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…This pattern is welldocumented in domestic dogs (Galis et al 2007;Kraus et al 2013;Fan et al 2016) where larger dog breeds (e.g., Bernese Mountain Dog, mean lifespan = 7 years) have an expected lifespan that is approximately half that of smaller breeds (e.g., Chihuahua, mean lifespan = 13 years; Jones et al 2008). While large breeds take longer to mature than small breeds, they weigh disproportionately more, and therefore have faster growth rates and an accelerated pace of physiological aging (e.g., cellular damage; Fick et al 2012;Kraus et al 2013;Fan et al 2016). Domestic dogs have been under strong artificial selection for at least 15,000 years (vonHoldt et al 2010), which has driven extensive diversity in physical and life history traits (i.e., size, growth rate, lifespan).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 63%

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Age influences domestic dog cognitive performance independent of average breed lifespan

et al. 2020

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Across mammals, increased body size is positively associated with lifespan. However, within species, this relationship is inverted. This is well illustrated in dogs (Canis familiaris), where larger dogs exhibit accelerated life trajectories: growing faster and dying younger than smaller dogs. Similarly, some age-associated traits (e.g., growth rate and physiological pace of aging) exhibit accelerated trajectories in larger breeds. Yet, it is unknown whether cognitive performance also demonstrates an accelerated life course trajectory in larger dogs. Here, we measured cognitive development and aging in a cross-sectional study of over 4000 dogs from 66 breeds using nine memory and decision-making tasks performed by citizen scientists as part of the Dognition project. Specifically, we tested whether cognitive traits follow a compressed (accelerated) trajectory in larger dogs, or the same trajectory for all breeds, which would result in limited cognitive decline in larger breeds. We found that all breeds, regardless of size or lifespan, tended to follow the same quadratic trajectory of cognitive aging-with a period of cognitive development in early life and decline in later life. Taken together, our results suggest that cognitive performance follows similar age-related trajectories across dog breeds, despite remarkable variation in developmental rates and lifespan.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Age influences domestic dog cognitive performance independent of average breed lifespan

et al. 2020

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“…However, within species, individuals with larger absolute body mass tend to be shorter-lived [e.g., rodents ( 15 ) and humans ( 16 )]. This is the case for the domestic dog, where larger breeds die at younger ages, due largely to an accelerated rate of growth between birth and adult size ( 17 ), which incurs growth-induced cellular damage via oxidative processes that reduce longevity ( 17 – 19 ). Large breeds can also be predisposed to a considerable number of inherited diseases related to their conformation, such as cardiovascular diseases, which contribute to their early mortality and morbidity ( 1 ) in addition to higher inbreeding coefficients, which are also associated with reduced longevity ( 5 , 20 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Old Is My Dog? Identification of Rational Age Groupings in Pet Dogs Based Upon Normative Age-Linked Processes

Harvey¹

2021

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Behavioral development is a lifelong process where cognitive traits such as learning and memory may be expected to take quadratic or linear trajectories. It is common practice for operational purposes to reduce study subjects into chronological categories when conducting research. However, there are no agreed-upon thresholds for this practice, and the lack of standardization may hinder comparison between studies of normative and pathological aging. In this perspective review, chronological categories have been identified that can be considered to represent normative cognitive and neurological aging in domestic family dogs. These categories work to capture age-related developmental trajectories for the majority of dog breeds. It is encouraged that researchers studying cognition and behavior, pathological cognitive deficits, or welfare of dogs across age categories utilize the categories presented here to best enable comparison between studies. The proposed groups could also support education programs informing owners of what behavioral changes to expect in their dog as they age, but they cannot be used to reflect health-based needs associated with breed-specific morbidity. The use of the age categories proposed here highlights significant welfare issues for breeds with the shortest average lifespans (e.g., the Great Dane). Studies show no evidence of an increased rate of behavioral or cognitive aging in short-lived breeds, and the shortest-lived breeds are most likely to die when classified by the proposed categories as Mature Adults. Adoption of these chronological categories in future research would aid comparison between studies and identification of non-normative age-related pathologies.

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“…That “large dogs die young” has been a contested statement in the dog literature. Mortality data have been used to attest that larger breeds “die young,” an approach prone to a number of unavoidable biases [ 27 , 28 ], and others have used mathematical models of the ratio between birth mass and adult mass to yield similar conclusions [ 29 ], highlighting that larger breeds may have faster cellular damage accumulation leading to significantly shorter lives compared with smaller breeds. Empirical data demonstrating a physiological mechanism that underlies these differences has yet to be elucidated [ 30 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cellular metabolism and oxidative stress as a possible determinant for longevity in small breed and large breed dogs

et al. 2018

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Among species, larger animals tend to live longer than smaller ones, however, the opposite seems to be true for dogs—smaller dogs tend to live significantly longer than larger dogs across all breeds. We were interested in the mechanism that may allow for small breeds to age more slowly compared with large breeds in the context of cellular metabolism and oxidative stress. Primary dermal fibroblasts from small and large breed dogs were grown in culture. We measured basal oxygen consumption (OCR), proton leak, and glycolysis using a Seahorse XF96 oxygen flux analyzer. Additionally, we measured rates of reactive species (RS) production, reduced glutathione (GSH) content, mitochondrial content, lipid peroxidation (LPO) damage and DNA (8-OHdg) damage. Our data suggests that as dogs of both size classes age, proton leak is significantly higher in older dogs, regardless of size class. We found that all aspects of glycolysis were significantly higher in larger breeds compared with smaller breeds. We found significant differences between age classes in GSH concentration, and a negative correlation between DNA damage in puppies and mean breed lifespan. Interestingly, RS production showed no differences across size and age class. Thus, large breed dogs may have higher glycolytic rates, and DNA damage, suggesting a potential mechanism for their decreased lifespan compared with small breed dogs.

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Birth mass is the key to understanding the negative correlation between lifespan and body size in dogs

Cited by 13 publications

References 57 publications

Age influences domestic dog cognitive performance independent of average breed lifespan

Age influences domestic dog cognitive performance independent of average breed lifespan

How Old Is My Dog? Identification of Rational Age Groupings in Pet Dogs Based Upon Normative Age-Linked Processes

Cellular metabolism and oxidative stress as a possible determinant for longevity in small breed and large breed dogs

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