January 2012
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850 Reads
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33 Citations
A large number of aged dogs and cats demonstrate behavioral signs consistent with a clinical diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS), which likely is a consequence of pathological brain aging. Identification of treatments that prevent, halt, or reverse CDS, therefore, represents an unmet need in senior animal veterinary care. NOVIFIT Tablets are an S-adenosylmethio-nine (SAMe) tosylate supplement currently marketed for improving cognitive health of aged dogs and cats. SAMe is an endogenous metabolite involved in several biochemical pathways, and is deficient in humans with Alzheimer's disease. The current study examined the efficacy of NOVIFIT tablets on cognitive performance enhancement in cognitive domains impaired in canine and feline aging. In the first study, aged dogs initially balanced for memory performance were divided into NOVIFIT tablet and placebo groups and tested on both the same memory task and an object discrimination learning and reversal learning task. No treatment effects on memory performance were found, but the NOVIFIT tablets-treated dogs did not show a significant increase in reversal learning errors compared to learning errors seen both under placebo and in previous aging studies, suggesting NOVIFIT tablets