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# Description of the Toulouse GOLD Cohort :
an open science study to better characterize the first days of life
and their short, medium and long-term consequences in dogs.

A. Grellet¹, C. Chauvel¹, I. Bendahmane¹,², L. Milesi¹, J. Brun³, A. Marchand³, C. Baur¹, B. Duc¹, I. Khemri¹, U. Beaujardin¹, J. Landi Sato¹, P. Ronsin¹, O. Richard¹, E. Legendre¹, L. Michaud¹, M. Nguyen¹, MC Cadiergues³,⁴, H. Mila¹

NeoCare
Néonatalogie des Carnivores - Reproduction - Élevage

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envt
École nationale vétérinaire toulouse

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Génétique, Physiologie et Systèmes d'Elevage

¹ NeoCare - Université de Toulouse, ENVT, Toulouse, France

² GenPhySE, Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT

³ Small Animal Clinics, ENVT, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France

⁴ INFINITY, University of Toulouse, INSERM, CNRS, Toulouse, France

FONDATION

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L'INNOVATION NOUS GUIDE

## INTRODUCTION

In many mammalian species, events occurring during the perinatal period, induce physiological changes that can persist throughout an individual's life, with consequences for long-term health (developmental origins of health and disease concept). Early-life establishment of intestinal microbiota seems to play a decisive role in shaping the future health of the host, through its association with immune system development. In dogs, none of the four major canine longitudinal studies in progress ("Dogslife", "Golden Retriever Lifetime Study", "Generation Pup" and "Dog Ageing Project") have evaluated the influence of early life on appearance of chronic inflammatory diseases.

This poster describes the design of the Toulouse GOLD Cohort project that has been set up to collect data prospectively from the end of gestation until adulthood in order to investigate the effects of the fetal and neonatal periods on short-, medium- and long-term health of dogs and to present the "early Cohort"

### Prospective Golden Retriever cohort with 3 objectives

Created in 2022 at the National Vet School of Toulouse

1. **Non-invasive clinical studies**

2. **Training**

3. **Assistance dogs**

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Neonatal period
Weaning period

Developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD)

## STUDY DESIGN

### Continuous follow-up

**Reproduction unit**
(Vet teaching hospital)

**Maternity**
(dedicated for the project)

**GOLD clinic**
(Vet teaching hospital)

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### Clinical data and biological samples collected

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AGPGAR
Glycemia
Fecal score
Body weight
Muscular score
Body temperature
Body condition score
General clinical exam
Complete blood count
Food distributed and ingested
Fetal ultrasound measurements
Morphometrics measurements

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Feces
Ear swab
Skin swab
Hair sample
Rectal swab
Buccal swab
Blood sample
Vaginal /preputial swab

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## METHODOLOGY

### Different numeric devices used to follow the dog

Available samples details

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FitBark
Pet Activity Monitor

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Interoperable Study and
Research Data Sharing System
(SPIDER)

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1 camera /box

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Thermochip
Temperature biosensor

## PRELIMINARY RESULTS - the « Early Cohort »

<table><thead><tr><th>Variables</th><th>Early Cohort</th><th>Litterature</th><th>Reference</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Litter size</td><td>6.8</td><td>7.2</td><td>Mugnier A et al 2019</td></tr><tr><td>Still-birth</td><td>5.7%</td><td>7.4%</td><td>Chastant S et al 2017</td></tr><tr><td>Neonatal mortality (0-3 weeks)</td><td>1.6%</td><td>8.1%</td><td>Mugnier A et al 2019</td></tr><tr><td>Sex Ratio</td><td>1.0</td><td>1.0</td><td>Mugnier A et al 2019</td></tr><tr><td>Birth Weight (g)</td><td>410.5</td><td>395.4</td><td>Mugnier A et al 2019</td></tr><tr><td>Very low birth weight puppies (&lt;177g)</td><td>0.8%</td><td>1%</td><td>Mugnier A et al 2020</td></tr><tr><td>Low birth weight puppies (177.5-417 g)</td><td>50%</td><td>61.1%</td><td>Mugnier A et al 2020</td></tr><tr><td>Growth rate 0-2 days</td><td>6.1%</td><td>7.3%</td><td>Mugnier et al 2023</td></tr></tbody></table>

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Cases of chronic diseases and comorbidities identified among the first animals in the cohort (n= 113)

<table><thead><tr><th>Chronic enteropathy</th><th>Atopic dermatitis</th><th>Follicular conjunctivitis</th><th>Obesity</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>12</td><td>6</td><td>10</td><td>7</td></tr></tbody></table>

## CONCLUSION

Preliminary results confirmed the feasibility of collecting extensive, high-quality data and biological samples. The minimally invasive procedures allowed for continuous, detailed monitoring of the early life stages and their effects on health status. Our goal is to maintain this cohort indefinitely. The **Toulouse GOLD Cohort** makes available to the research community not only some of the data it collects, but also its research platform, acting as a facilitator to explore new hypotheses on canine health.

## A proposition to collaborate on this cohort

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Scientific project

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Annual meeting of project leaders

Annual activity report around the project

Storage of generated data on the secure data

management platform

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Clarification on
the partnership

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Evaluation by the
scientific committee

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Definition of the
conditions for
implementation

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Submission of the project to call
for funding or grants if necessary

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Partnership agreement
Data Sharing Agreements

Material Transfer Agreements

Contact:
aurelien.grellet@envt.fr