Can anti-nerve growth factor antibodies bedinvetmab and frunevetmab improve quality of life in dogs and cats with osteoarthritis?

23 September 2024

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a considerable welfare concern in dogs and cats, causing chronic pain, impaired joint function, decreased mobility and adversely impacting quality of life. OA affects an estimated 80% of dogs over the age of 8 years old¹ and 61% of cats aged 6 years and over², rising to 90% of cats over 12 years old³.

The anti-nerve growth factor monoclonal antibody (anti-NGF mAb) represents a new class of OA pain medication for dogs and cats and two anti-NGF mAb have been approved in recent years: bedinvetmab (approved as Librela) for dogs and frunevetmab (approved as Solensia) for cats.

While the efficacy of these therapeutics has previously been reported in dogs using the Canine Brief Pain Inventory and the Client Specific Outcome Measures, to date, no studies have reported the impact of bedinvetmab or frunevetmab on quality of life (QOL) of dogs and cats respectively, using a validated health-related quality of life (HRQL) measure.

New research led by Jacqueline Reid and published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science has explored whether bedinvetmab and frunevetmab improves the QOL of dogs and cats with OA pain, using data from the previously validated HQRL outcome measure VetMetrica⁴. VetMetrica structured questionnaires contain 22 behaviour-based items for dog owners and 20 for cat owners. A coded algorithm automatically transforms the owner responses into scores (0–6) in four domains of QOL – energetic/enthusiastic, happy/content, active/comfortable, calm/relaxed – for dogs, and three domains – vitality, comfort and emotional wellbeing – for cats.

The study recruited 27 UK first opinion general veterinary practices to participate in the canine study and 24 practices in the feline study, and enrolled a total of 75 dogs and 56 cats. Dogs received bedinvetmab at 0.5–1 mg/kg and cats received frunevetmab at 1–2.8 mg/kg by subcutaneous injection on days 0, 28 and 56. Owners completed QOL assessments within 48 hours of day 0 and on days 14, 28, 56, 63 and 70 using a study-specific app.

There was a statistically significant improvement in physical wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and all domains except ‘calm and relaxed’ in dogs, and in all domains and physical wellbeing in cats by day 14. There was a subsequent continued improvement in all domains and summary scores except for happy/content in dogs and emotional wellbeing in cats. The overall improvement in all domain scores in cats and in energetic/enthusiastic and active/comfortable domains in dogs was greater than the previously reported minimum important difference scores for the QOL measure, which indicates a clinically significant change.

Veterinary practitioners, regulatory bodies and pet owners are showing increasing interest in demonstrating that therapeutics improve the QOL of treated animals, and a high proportion of pet owners express interest in using assessment tools to measure QOL in their pets⁴. As well as proving the use of bedinvetmab and frunevetmab in the clinical management of OA pain, pet owners equally want to see an improvement in their pet’s mobility and physical and emotional wellbeing, because of these treatments.

Take home message

Treatment with bedinvetmab and frunevetmab led to a significant improvement in the QOL of dogs and cats, respectively, indicating that these therapeutics could be helpful in the clinical management of osteoarthritis⁴.

Read the full study: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1395360/full

BSAVA Resources

The BSAVA PetSavers Ageing Canine Toolkit helps vets and pet owners provide the best care for dogs as they age, including on common conditions like osteoarthritis. https://www.bsavalibrary.com/content/cil/cilgrouppetsaversact/petsavers-act-guide

References

¹Canine Arthritis Management (2024) Arthritis: the basics. Available at https://caninearthritis.co.uk/what-is-arthritis/arthritis-the-basics

²Sligerland LI et al. (2011) Cross-sectional study of the prevalence and clinical features of osteoarthritis in 100 cats. Veterinary Journal. 187(3):304-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2009.12.014.

³Hardie EM et al. (2002) Radiographic evidence of degenerative joint disease in geriatric cats: 100 cases (1994-1997). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 220(5):628-32. doi: 10.2460/javma.2002.220.628.

⁴Reid J, Gildea E, Davies V, Thompson J & Scott M (2024). Measuring the effect of the anti-nerve growth factor antibodies bedinvetmab and frunevetmab on quality of life in dogs and cats with osteoarthritis using a validated health-related quality of life outcome measure: an observational real-world study. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 10.3389/fvets.2024.1395360