How dogs can help us learn about human ageing
What a dog’s kidney can tell us about human ageing
- Scientists are studying dogs to uncover clues about the human ageing process, focusing on the role of the kidneys and the gut.
- The US-based Dog Aging Project, launched in 2020, involves 50,000 canines and uses dogs as models due to their similar genetic diversity, diseases, and environments to humans.
- Analysis of blood samples from nearly 800 dogs revealed that approximately 40 per cent of small molecules, known as metabolites, change with age.
- A specific type of metabolite, post-translationally modified amino acids (ptmAAs), produced by gut bacteria, was strongly linked to ageing across all dog breeds, sizes, and sexes.
- Researchers suggest that as kidney function declines with age, the build-up of these amino acids may explain why some dogs age more healthily than others, offering potential insights into human ageing.