Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Alpha-1 acid glycoprotein levels in cats with chronic mouth
By Mestrinho, Lisa A et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2020·CIISA - Centro de Investigaç·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A pilot study to evaluate the serum Alpha-1 acid glycoprotein response in cats suffering from feline chronic gingivostomatitis.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old domestic shorthair cat was suffering from chronic mouth pain, difficulty eating, and weight loss due to a condition called feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS). The veterinarian performed dental extractions to help reduce inflammation, which is a common treatment for this painful condition. While the cat showed some improvement in comfort and mouth health after 60 days, the levels of a specific inflammatory protein in the blood did not significantly decrease. This suggests that while dental extractions can help, additional medical treatment is often necessary to manage the ongoing inflammation associated with FCGS.
People also search for: cat mouth pain treatment · feline chronic gingivostomatitis management · dental extractions for cats with gingivitis
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS) is a multifactorial immune-mediated disease that can lead to chronic pain, anorexia, and weight loss and has substantial health and welfare effects. Currently, the recommended treatment includes dental extractions to decrease the inflammatory stimulation associated with dental plaque. However, complete remission is observed in less than half of the cases, and the majority need comprehensive medical management. This study aimed to evaluate the serum levels of the acute phase protein alpha-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP) in cats with FCGS and to examine whether dental extractions contribute to a significant decrease in the systemic inflammatory response at two postoperative time points. RESULTS: AGP serum concentrations in the cats with FCGS were significantly higher at all time points than that in the control groups and were significantly correlated with the global caudal stomatitis score at day 0 but not at day 30 or 60. A significant improvement of some clinical scores, such as perceived comfort and global caudal stomatitis, was observed 60 days after the dental extraction. However, the levels of AGP did not significantly change over time. CONCLUSIONS: Cats with FCGS were more likely to have a systemic inflammatory response compared with age- and dental disease-matched controls. Dental extractions, in most cases, did not contribute to a significant decrease of AGP both at 30 and 60 days. Therefore, this study reinforces the need to pursue comprehensive medical management after dental extractions to attenuate the systemic inflammatory response as a result of this disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33059691/