Alterations of Lipid Metabolism with Age and Weight in Companion Dogs

The companion dog has recently been promoted as powerful translational model of aging. However, while dogs share environments with their human owners and develop many of the same age-related morbidities, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that drive their health and longevity. In addition, dogs have a well described phenotypic pattern in which small dogs live significantly longer than large dogs, such that weight can be used as a crude proxy for longevity. To investigate this pattern, we completed a small lipidomics study on 41 dogs in the Birmingham, Alabama, United States, area to determine individual circulating lipids that were associated with age and body weight. We discovered that sphingomyelins were significantly higher in large, short-lived dogs, independent of age, and triglycerides were higher in older dogs of all sizes. Our results point towards physiological differences that may explain a portion of the variation in longevity seen in companion dogs.