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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Signs and treatment of food-responsive protein-losing gut disease

By Nagata, Noriyuki et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2020·Department of Clinical Sciences, Japan·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Clinical characteristics of dogs with food-responsive protein-losing enteropathy.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A group of 33 dogs diagnosed with protein-losing enteropathy (PLE) were studied to understand a specific type called food-responsive PLE (FR-PLE). Out of these, 23 dogs showed improvement when switched to an ultra-low-fat diet. These dogs had significantly better clinical scores and longer survival times compared to those with other types of PLE that did not respond to diet changes. This suggests that if your dog has PLE and responds well to a special diet, they may have a better outlook for recovery.

People also search for: dog protein-losing enteropathy diet · food-responsive enteropathy in dogs · dog chronic diarrhea treatment

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In dogs with protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), data on the clinical characteristics of food-responsive PLE (FR-PLE) remain scarce. OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical characteristics of FR-PLE in dogs responsive to ultralow-fat diet (ULFD) management. ANIMALS: Thirty-three dogs diagnosed with PLE based on standard diagnostic criteria. METHODS: Retrospective review of medical records. Clinical findings were compared between dogs with FR-PLE (FR-PLE group) and those with immunosuppressant-responsive PLE (IR-PLE) or nonresponsive PLE (NR-PLE) (IR/NR-PLE group). The area under the curve (AUC) of a receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the ability of factors to differentiate the FR-PLE and IR/NR-PLE groups. Survival time was compared between the FR-PLE and IR/NR-PLE groups. RESULTS: Twenty-three dogs responded to ULFD management and were diagnosed with FR-PLE. The canine chronic enteropathy clinical activity index (CCECAI) was significantly lower in the FR-PLE group than in the IR/NR-PLE group (P&#x2009;<&#x2009;.001). The AUC of CCECAI for differentiating the FR-PLE group was 0.935 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.845-1.000) with an optimal cutoff value of 8 (sensitivity, 0.826; specificity, 0.889). Survival times were significantly longer in the FR-PLE group (median, not reached) than in the IR/NR-PLE group (median, 432&#x2009;days; P&#x2009;<&#x2009;.001). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Dogs that respond to ULFD management and are diagnosed with FR-PLE are expected to have a favorable prognosis. Clinical scores, specifically the CCECAI, could be useful for differentiating FR-PLE from IR-PLE or NR-PLE.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32060974/