Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Copper excretion tested in Dobermanns with hidden hepatitis
By Mandigers, Paul J J et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2007·Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Netherlands·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Hepatic (64)Cu excretion in Dobermanns with subclinical hepatitis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Five female Dobermanns with subclinical hepatitis (a mild liver condition) were studied to see if they had trouble getting rid of copper from their bodies. The dogs had higher levels of copper in their livers compared to healthy dogs, which had normal copper levels. While the Dobermanns did not show significant differences in how they cleared copper from their blood, they did excrete less copper into their bile than the normal dogs. This suggests that their ability to get rid of copper might be linked to their liver issues.
People also search for: Doberman subclinical hepatitis symptoms · liver problems in Dobermanns · copper levels in dogs
Abstract
To investigate whether Dobermanns have impaired copper excretion an intravenous radioactive copper isotope ((64)Cu) was used as a tracer. Five patients and eight normal dogs (5 normal Dobermanns and 3 Beagles) were studied. The five female Dobermann patients had a subclinical hepatitis and an increased hepatic copper concentration (median 822mg/kg, range 690-1380mg/kg dry matter). The normal dogs, five Dobermanns and three Beagles, had no abnormal liver histopathology and hepatic copper concentrations were considered normal (Dobermanns; median 118mg/kg, range 50-242mg/kg dry matter; Beagles; median 82mg/kg, range 50-88mg/kg dry matter). Cholestasis was excluded in all dogs by means of a (99m)Tc-Bis-IDA hepatobiliary scintigraphy. Plasma clearance of (64)Cu was comparable in all dogs with no statistically significant differences. The excretion of (64)Cu into the bile, although not statistically significant, was less for the Dobermanns with subclinical hepatitis compared to the normal dogs. The findings suggest that impaired copper excretion may play a role in the aetiology of chronic hepatitis in the Dobermann.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17258253/