Disease you wish you'd studied? (class project suggestions)

[hachamor_persists]

(This is my first SDN post. If it's too far off-topic from applications which seem to dominate the conversation here, then let me know and I'll take it down ASAP!) For one of my courses we get to pair up to write a review article and do some presentations on (almost) any disease. Anyone have suggestions? If you've seen something interesting in clinic, or you are a veterinarian or veterinary student wishing that you'd come into veterinary school with particular knowledge of anything then I'd love to hear what it was! It's a mechanisms class, so the more complicated the better.

My partner isn't pre-veterinary; she's pre-research, with interest in cancer and autoimmune conditions, but relatively open. We're leaning towards something that's human and animal but are open to suggestions of all kinds. I'm hoping to be a research veterinarian, so my heart isn't set on any particular species that we've got the disease in common with, and even "just-human" diseases might end up being important for me to know about. Right now, osteosarcoma is on our short list, and my long list is mostly infectious (parvo, hendra,...) which isn't really her area.

I don't know if this counts as a thank you or a downside, but I'll be happy to share the finished, edited version with anyone so you'll have a succinct and up-to-date way to learn about a disease you're interested in.

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[ajs513]

In my cell biochem class we had to do a project on a disease we were assigned to and it was a lot of fun. My project was a lit review comparing and contrasting canine mammary cancer and human breast cancer. Given your girlfriend’s interests I’d say that would be really fun to study. Both are extensively researched and more is being discovered all the time. There are TONS of mechanisms involved in mammary cancer, from genetics to hormonal to environmental. There are a good chunk of similarities between humans and dogs in this case, and some pretty interesting differences.

 

[genny]

Hyperaldosteronism! It's a thing in people, and I have a feline patient with it. It's a really good mechanism to understand with complicated effects.

 

[britzen]

Canine transmissible venereal tumor.

Contagious cancer, man. So weird.

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[hachamor_persists]

Hyperaldosteronism! It's a thing in people, and I have a feline patient with it. It's a really good mechanism to understand with complicated effects.

Thank you! Just from the root words that sounds really interesting!

Canine transmissible venereal tumor.

Contagious cancer, man. So weird.

Sent from my SM-G892U using SDN mobile

Oh my goodness! Thank you! I learned about this in high school and have been trying to remember the name since. I'm definitely going to look it up with her even if we don't do the project on it because it's a trip! If we do that, maybe we can get all the underclassmen we have to give the presentation to into pre-vet; almost worked on my high school class.

In my cell biochem class we had to do a project on a disease we were assigned to and it was a lot of fun. My project was a lit review comparing and contrasting canine mammary cancer and human breast cancer. Given your girlfriend’s interests I’d say that would be really fun to study. Both are extensively researched and more is being discovered all the time. There are TONS of mechanisms involved in mammary cancer, from genetics to hormonal to environmental. There are a good chunk of similarities between humans and dogs in this case, and some pretty interesting differences.

I meant partner as in within the class; no interest of that kind. Although we were roommates which is why we decided to work together, so correct on there being an outside of class connection. I don't think I'd want to work on a project like this with an s/o--that would be so much pressure if there was a break-up! I'll definitely consider mammary cancer and, if so, will let you know how it goes!

 

[jaboo]

My partner isn't pre-veterinary; she's pre-research, with interest in cancer and autoimmune conditions, but relatively open. We're leaning towards something that's human and animal but are open to suggestions of all kinds. I'm hoping to be a research veterinarian, so my heart isn't set on any particular species that we've got the disease in common with, and even "just-human" diseases might end up being important for me to know about. Right now, osteosarcoma is on our short list, and my long list is mostly infectious (parvo, hendra,...) which isn't really her area.

FeLV might be good. It’s very mechanism heavy (different types of infections) and is known for predisposing cats to tumors.

Myasthenia gravis would be good for autoimmune, plus it effects both humans and pets.

One particularly interesting one (to me) that falls under the human and animal umbrella is tuberculosis. My first year of vet school there was a case of reverse zoonosis (human gave an animal the infection) with M. Bovis TB only like an hour away from the school. It can also be transferred from cow to human. That one could also get pretty detailed on mechanisms, depending on how in-depth you want to describe the chronic nodules that form.

 

[that redhead]

Herpes B virus - applicable to a lot of researchers as non-human primates are still a model for many things. Plus herpes has some fun qualities.

 

[ajs513]

@hachamor_persists lol my bad! It’s been a long day and I don’t know why I jumped to girlfriend instead of the obvious project partner. But yea, if you do mammary cancer as your topic let me know. It’s a really complex disease and very interesting to research.

 

[WildZoo]

~prions~

 

[hachamor_persists]

~prions~

I know!! I've already done a couple different projects on Mad Cow though, and I don't think I could talk her into doing ours on Chronic Wasting Disease

 

[JaynaAli]

Bovine left displaced abomasum with paradoxic aciduria is one of my favorite mechanisms to teach. Nephrotic syndrome is also a good mechanism with lots of parts.

I agree that hyperaldosteronism is a good one. Really any endocrine disease will be mechanism heavy. PPID/metabolic syndrome in horses, thyroid disease, Cushings/Addisons.

You could pick a cancer that has hypercalcemia of malignancy due to parathyroid hormone related protein like apocrine gland anal sac carcinoma.

Immune mediated hemolytic anemia is cool. Or sickle cell anemia if you are into humans.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Bovine left displaced abomasum with paradoxic aciduria is one of my favorite mechanisms to teach. Nephrotic syndrome is also a good mechanism with lots of parts.

I agree that hyperaldosteronism is a good one. Really any endocrine disease will be mechanism heavy. PPID/metabolic syndrome in horses, thyroid disease, Cushings/Addisons.

You could pick a cancer that has hypercalcemia of malignancy due to parathyroid hormone related protein like apocrine gland anal sac carcinoma.

Immune mediated hemolytic anemia is cool. Or sickle cell anemia if you are into humans.

I love nephrotic syndrome. Lots of structural (both local in the kidney and systemically) as well as biochemical changes, and so many causes. If she's into autoimmune you could tie it in with AI kidney diseases (even though some like lupus can be a bit more nephritic-nephrotic rather than pure nephrotic). Kidney diseases in general have a ton of mechanistic stuff.

 

[hachamor_persists]

Bovine left displaced abomasum with paradoxic aciduria is one of my favorite mechanisms to teach. Nephrotic syndrome is also a good mechanism with lots of parts.

I agree that hyperaldosteronism is a good one. Really any endocrine disease will be mechanism heavy. PPID/metabolic syndrome in horses, thyroid disease, Cushings/Addisons.

You could pick a cancer that has hypercalcemia of malignancy due to parathyroid hormone related protein like apocrine gland anal sac carcinoma.

Immune mediated hemolytic anemia is cool. Or sickle cell anemia if you are into humans.

Hypoalderstonism is on the list now, no one worry. Unfortunately, I don't think my partner would go for LDA, since the structures involved are so different from humans.

Sickle cell is actually one of the few disease we aren't allowed to choose. We're learning the mechanisms of a few diseases in the early units before we have to start teaching each other mechanisms . I'm actually presenting on the molecular mechanisms that leads to lysis in sickle cell in a few days (yes, we're already teaching each other even before we're officially teaching each other!) but maybe since IMHA is so different in cause the professor will let us do it for the final project. I'll have to see....

I've actually seen feline hypothyroidism, and (probable) PPID so that would be really interesting if I am able to do the project on them and deepen my knowledge! (They're actually both on my short-list for a separate, personal project of writing undergrad teaching case studies. I'd planned that the case studies would have to take a back seat for a while with this project going on...I'm actually in the editing phase of feline hypothyroidism if anyone wants to see it. Doing one of those might be a sneaky way of fitting that project in, so hmmmm.)

I love nephrotic syndrome. Lots of structural (both local in the kidney and systemically) as well as biochemical changes, and so many causes. If she's into autoimmune you could tie it in with AI kidney diseases (even though some like lupus can be a bit more nephritic-nephrotic rather than pure nephrotic). Kidney diseases in general have a ton of mechanistic stuff.

You sent me on a mini-feline kidney disease research rabbit-hole here since I was learning about those a bit earlier too! I'm putting a few kidney diseases on the list.

Thank you so, so much everyone! We ended up talking about canine transmissible venereal tumor with a few other friends around and absolutely terrified them before explaining that it was canine! We're going to send in some possibilities to our professor early to see if we can get assigned one sooner (the professor has veto power, so we're going to send a few all at once to avoid any back-and-forth). I'll let you all know when I hear back and then post again when we're further along to give some updates?

 

[battie]

Any endocrine disease that's moderately well understood. Hypo/hyperadrenocorticism, hypo/hyperthyroidism, hypercalcemia of malignancy, etc. Just spent 4 weeks going over all of them last quarter.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Portosystemic shunts are fun because they are a surgical disease but also have interesting clinical signs, clin path presentation, and medical treatment.

I’m a cancer nerd, so osteosarc would be a good one for the human/animal translational aspect.

Paraneoplastic sydromes are cool too.

 

[that redhead]

I love nephrotic syndrome. Lots of structural (both local in the kidney and systemically) as well as biochemical changes, and so many causes. If she's into autoimmune you could tie it in with AI kidney diseases (even though some like lupus can be a bit more nephritic-nephrotic rather than pure nephrotic). Kidney diseases in general have a ton of mechanistic stuff.

I just love the kidneys in general

 

[cdo96]

@SkiOtter is it bad I saw the title and instantly thought:

Plague <3



I do love me some plague, don’t know why.

 

[Trilt]

Fatal familial insomnia is my favourite terrifying disease. Hereditary prion disease where people stop being able to sleep and go slowly insane. So cool. So horrible.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Fatal familial insomnia is my favourite terrifying disease. Hereditary prion disease where people stop being able to sleep and go slowly insane. So cool. So horrible.

Yesssss.

And the fact that there’s a “sporadic” form.

 

[hachamor_persists]

Since the entire rest of the class (not quite but almost, lol!) signed up for pathogenic diseases, we'll be doing myasthenia gravis

Myasthenia gravis would be good for autoimmune, plus it effects both humans and pets.

Current plan is a canine-human comparative approach.
Thank you so, so much for the suggestions, everyone!

 

[itsrocky]

Pyhtiosis. Aka “swamp cancer”

Lives in stagnant water. not quite a fungus, not quite anything else. Causes devastating blight in commercial plants, and can infect the integument, respiratory, and GI in animals. Dogs, horses, and rarely cats and I believe cattle? Can be affected. Can also infect immunosuppressive humans.

 

[hachamor_persists]

Thank you so much for the suggestions, everyone! We finished the project on myasthenia gravis a few weeks ago. I'm really proud of our paper, which ended up as a pretty thorough review and critique of existing and potential model organisms. Our presentation was also well received by the underclassmen to whom we presented it (our hook was "how poisons taught us about myasthenia gravis"). It was a really exciting learning experience to discover how vet med interfaces with human medicine and research in this instance.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Why not good ole rabies?

It’s actually a very fascinating disease that is well researched and mechanism heavy. A lot is known about it. It is zoonotic and important for both people and animals.

It’s also used in research because of the way it travels up the peripheral nerves to the CNS, and the virus is genetically engineered for research purposes to learn about totally unrelated things.