Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Retrospective study of reticulocyte indices as indicators of iron-restricted erythropoiesis in dogs with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc
- Year:
- 2016
- Authors:
- Schaefer, Deanna M W & Stokol, Tracy
- Affiliation:
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences · United States
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
This study looked at 14 dogs with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (a condition where the immune system attacks red blood cells) to see if they had issues with iron that could be making their anemia worse. The dogs, aged 2 to 15 years and including both males and females, showed no signs of bleeding that would indicate a lack of iron. However, about a third of them had low levels of a specific measurement related to iron in their blood, which was linked to lower red blood cell counts. The findings suggest that some of these dogs might be having trouble using iron properly, possibly due to inflammation or other factors. The researchers believe that further studies could help determine if giving iron directly could help these dogs.
Abstract
Iron-restricted erythropoiesis can occur as a result of an absolute deficiency of iron stores, inflammation-mediated iron sequestration, or functional iron deficiency (in which release of stored iron is slower than the iron uptake by erythroid precursors during intense erythropoiesis). Reticulocyte indices are used to identify iron-restricted erythropoiesis, with the reticulocyte hemoglobin content (CHr) being the most commonly used index in human patients. Dogs with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) may have iron-restricted erythropoiesis caused by inflammation-mediated iron sequestration and/or functional iron deficiency, which could contribute to anemia severity and blunt the regenerative response in some dogs. To investigate this possibility, reticulocyte indices were examined retrospectively in 14 dogs (2-15 years of age; 9 spayed females, 1 intact female, 4 neutered males) with IMHA, and no clinical evidence of blood loss was found to suggest absolute iron deficiency. Five dogs (34%) had CHr below the preestablished lower reference limit (24.5 pg), and hematocrit was significantly lower in these dogs (p = 0.042, nonpaired t-test). Our results suggest that some dogs with IMHA may have iron-restricted erythropoiesis as a result of functional iron deficiency, inflammation-mediated iron sequestration, or (less likely) absolute iron deficiency. Further study is warranted to evaluate if dogs with IMHA may benefit from parenteral iron therapy.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27034340/