Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Using blood citrulline to guide treatment for chronic gut disease
By Gerou-Ferriani, Magda et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2018·Clinica Veterinaria Malpensa, Italy·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Determining optimal therapy of dogs with chronic enteropathy by measurement of serum citrulline.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 74 dogs with chronic enteropathy (CE), which can cause symptoms like diarrhea and weight loss, was studied to see if measuring a substance called serum citrulline could help determine the best treatment. However, the results showed that serum citrulline levels were similar in dogs with CE and healthy dogs, and it did not help predict how well the dogs would respond to different treatments. This means that measuring serum citrulline may not be useful for guiding treatment decisions in dogs with CE.
People also search for: dog chronic diarrhea treatment · dog weight loss causes · dog inflammatory bowel disease management
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Serum concentration of citrulline is a useful biomarker in human intestinal disease and indicates globally reduced enterocyte mass and absorptive function in various disease states. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether serum citrulline concentration is a biomarker in chronic enteropathy (CE) in dogs, to provide useful information regarding optimal treatment or to predict outcome. ANIMALS: Seventy-four dogs with CE and 83 breed- and age-matched hospital controls with no clinical signs of intestinal disease. METHODS: Retrospective study. Outcome was determined and dogs were categorized by response to treatment as having food-responsive enteropathy (FRE), antibiotic-responsive diarrhea (ARD), or idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Disease severity was quantified by the CIBDAI scoring index. RESULTS: Serum citrulline concentration did not differ between dogs with CE (median, 8.4 µg/mL, 5th-95th percentile 2.0-19.6) and controls (median, 8.1 µg/mL, 5th-95th percentile 2.2-19.7, P = .91). Serum citrulline concentration was similar between dogs with FRE (median, 9.1 µg/mL, 5th-95th percentile 2.0-18.9), ARD (median, 13.0 µg/mL, 5th-95th percentile 1.6-19.2), IBD (median, 8.4 µg/mL, 5th-95th percentile 2.1-21.0; P = .91). Serum citrulline did not correlate to CIBDAI or to serum albumin concentration. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: In our study, serum citrulline concentration was not associated with efficacy of treatment or outcome in dogs with CE.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29663515/