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Chagas' disease is an important health problem in most Latin American countries, and a concern in dog populations, which act as a reservoir. We showed in previous studies that a therapeutic DNA vaccine could partially control the pathology after Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mice, and this vaccine may represent an alternative treatment for Chagas' disease. Here we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of this vaccine in experimentally infected dogs for up to 2 months after infection. Our results suggest that DNA vaccine treatment may affect the immune response and delay Chagas' disease progression in T. cruzi-infected dogs, and confirm the potential of this novel treatment.

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This research was performed to describe the characteristics of the progression of naturally occurring chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dogs, together with the management of identified risk factors, following the International Renal Interest Society recommendations. Dogs diagnosed and staged with CKD, and with a longitudinal follow-up from the moment of diagnosis of up to a maximum of 730 days, were included. A total of 545 dogs that presented risk factors for the development of CKD were analyzed, out of which 36 met the inclusion criteria. Advanced age was identified in 80.6% of cases. Initiation risk factors were represented by inflammatory/infectious diseases, history of anesthetic-surgical procedures, heart disease, neoplasms, endocrinopathies, and exposure to nephrotoxic drugs. During the follow-up period, progression of CKD was identified in 47.2% of the cases, being more salient in advanced stages. Serum symmetric dimethyl arginine (SDMA) was the only glomerular filtration rate (GFR) marker which displayed differences among studied times during early stages of CKD, associated with the disease progression and decline of renal function. A significant difference between the survival curves in early and advanced CKD stages was observed. The factors related to decreased survival were hyperphosphatemia, anemia, and low body condition score (BCS). No differences were found between the presence of arterial hypertension and renal proteinuria and decreased survival. Furthermore, CKD diagnosis based on the persistent finding of abnormalities in early disease markers, such as serum symmetric dimethyl arginine increase and/or renal proteinuria, and timely therapeutic management of risk factors, allowed for CKD stabilization, reducing progression to advanced stages, and favoring higher survival rates.