Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Urine test for kidney damage in dogs with mitral valve disease
By Troia, Roberta et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2022·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin to detect renal tubular damage in dogs with stable myxomatous mitral valve disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with stable myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) showed signs of kidney damage, even if they weren't displaying obvious symptoms. Researchers measured a specific protein in their urine that indicated renal tubular damage, finding higher levels in these dogs compared to healthy ones. The damage was present across all stages of MMVD and worsened as the disease progressed. This suggests that even stable MMVD can affect kidney health, and veterinarians may need to consider protective treatments to help manage kidney function in these dogs.
People also search for: dog kidney damage myxomatous mitral valve disease · MMVD kidney health in dogs · how to protect dog kidneys with heart disease
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) can experience progressive renal tubular damage and dysfunction. The prevalence of renal tubular damage is not known in dogs with stable MMVD. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate renal tubular damage in dogs with stable MMVD by evaluation of urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL). ANIMALS: Ninety-eight MMVD dogs grouped according to the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) staging (group B1, n = 23; group B2, n = 27; group C + D, n = 48) and 46 healthy dogs. METHODS: Multicenter prospective observational study. Serum and urine chemistry including NGAL reported as uNGAL concentration (uNGAL) and normalized with urinary creatinine (uNGALC) were compared between MMVD dogs and healthy controls, and among different MMVD ACVIM stages. RESULTS: The MMVD dogs had significantly higher uNGAL and uNGALC (1204 pg/mL; range, 30-39 732 and 1816 pg/mg; range, 22-127 693, respectively) compared to healthy dogs (584 pg/mL; range, 56-4072 and 231 pg/mg; range, 15-2407, respectively; P = .002 and P < .0001, respectively). Both uNGAL and uNGALC increased with the increasing ACVIM stage (P = .001 and P < .001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Renal tubular damage is present in dogs with stable MMVD, as measured by increased uNGAL. This tubular damage is subclinical, occurs in all stages of MMVD even in the absence of azotemia, and increases with the severity of MMVD. Reno-protective approaches to manage MMVD dogs should be explored to slow the progression of renal tubular damage in these patients.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36196592/