Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
REG3E protein levels in healthy dogs and dogs with inflammation
By Peters, Laureen M et al.·Published in PloS one·2025·Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Regenerating island-derived protein 3E concentrations in healthy dogs and dogs with various inflammatory processes.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that blood levels of a protein called REG3E were significantly higher in dogs with serious health issues like sepsis and acute pancreatitis compared to healthy dogs. For example, healthy dogs had an average REG3E level of 36.5 ng/mL, while those with acute pancreatitis had levels around 1644.5 ng/mL. The research suggests that higher REG3E levels might indicate a worse prognosis, especially in dogs with sepsis. This protein could be useful for vets in diagnosing and making treatment decisions for dogs with inflammatory diseases.
People also search for: dog sepsis symptoms · acute pancreatitis in dogs treatment · high REG3E levels in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Blood concentrations of regenerating island-derived proteins (REG) are high in humans with sepsis, acute pancreatitis, and gastrointestinal diseases. REG3E was recently identified in canine pancreas and blood, but concentrations in dogs with various diseases are unknown. OBJECTIVES: To measure and compare REG3E concentrations in dogs with sepsis, acute pancreatitis, gastrointestinal diseases, and healthy dogs. METHODS: Cross-sectional study measuring plasma REG3E concentrations using an in-house developed ELISA in stored convenience samples from client-owned dogs with naturally occurring sepsis (n = 44), acute pancreatitis (n = 42), acute (n = 25) and chronic gastrointestinal diseases (n = 23), and healthy controls (n = 80). Concentrations of REG3E are compared among groups and between survivors and non-survivors to discharge using the Kruskal-Wallis test with post-hoc Conover analysis and independent samples t-tests. RESULTS: REG3E concentrations differed significantly among all groups (P < 0.005), except between sepsis and acute pancreatitis (P = 0.936). Median concentrations (interquartile range [ng/mL]) were 36.5 (30-89) in healthy dogs, 200 (103.5-361.5) in dogs with chronic gastrointestinal diseases, 634 (257-1060) in dogs with acute gastrointestinal diseases, 1644.5 (710 - 4122) in dogs with acute pancreatitis, and 1736 (480.5-3416) in septic dogs. Non-survivors (n = 33) had significantly higher REG3E concentrations than survivors when compared across all clinically ill dogs (P < 0.001) and within the sepsis group (n = 20; P = 0.0133), but not within the acute pancreatitis group (n = 13; P = 0.248). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Plasma REG3E concentrations are higher in dogs of all disease categories, particularly in dogs with sepsis and acute pancreatitis, but with considerable overlap between different diseases. High REG3E concentrations may be associated with poor prognosis in septic dogs. Thus, REG3E is likely to reflect inflammation and merits further investigations to refine its potential as a diagnostic and decision-making biomarker in this species.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40392915/