{
  "abstract": "The loss of a companion animal can provoke grief whose intensity rivals human bereavement, yet its biological basis remains largely uncharted. This structured narrative review synthesizes neurobiological, endocrinological, immunological, and psychosocial evidence into a mechanistic framework offered not as established fact but as a source of testable hypotheses. We trace the substrates of the human-animal bond across six interacting systems and propose how disruption of each upon an animal's death may drive grief. Three carry comparatively robust analogical support (oxytocinergic signaling, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal [HPA] axis regulation, and neuroinflammatory activation) and three are more exploratory (dopaminergic, serotonergic, and endocannabinoid pathways). Integrating extracted study-level data into transparent prioritization heuristics, we identify the HPA axis, assessed with its coupled oxytocinergic partner, as the most defensible first target for a direct biomarker study, a conclusion robust across three methodologically independent analyses. No direct pet-loss evidence yet supports any proposal, and this gap is the review's central motivation. As applied context, we address euthanasia-related guilt, disenfranchised grief under East Asian norms (a tentative \"double disenfranchisement\" hypothesis that we put forward for testing), assessment instruments, evidence-graded therapies, priorities for developing Korean-language tools, and One Health research priorities.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Biochemistry, Dongguk University College of Medicine, 123 Dongdae-ro, Gyeongju 38066, Republic of Korea.",
    "Section of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, Medical Institute of Dongguk University, Gyeongju 38066, Republic of Korea."
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Thanh Huu Phan Ngo",
      "orcid": "0009-0007-3256-4328"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jiwon Oh",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-9586-7337"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hyeong Jun Kim",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-1967-3603"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Wan Lee",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5181-2135"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9kkgz1g18nd8e.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/ani16193129",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13663545",
  "id": "9kkgz1g18nd8e",
  "issns": [
    "2076-2615"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883098",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3203|Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220742364",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13663545?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13663545",
  "pmid": "42883098",
  "published": "2026-10-06",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9kkgz1g18nd8e.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:00Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42883098",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883098"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:3203|Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Neurobiology of Pet Loss Grief: A Review from a One Health Perspective.",
  "title_text": "Neurobiology of Pet Loss Grief: A Review from a One Health Perspective.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:00Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9kkgz1g18nd8e",
  "venue": "Animals : an open access journal from MDPI",
  "versions": []
}