Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Vitamin D levels linked to symptoms in dogs with chronic gut disease
By Vecchiato, Carla Giuditta et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2025·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Serum 25(OH)D reflects clinical characterization in dogs with chronic enteropathies.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with chronic digestive issues (chronic enteropathies) were studied to see how their vitamin D levels related to their treatment responses. The dogs were divided into groups based on whether their condition improved with diet changes, gut bacteria treatments, immunosuppressive medications, or if they had protein-losing enteropathy (a more severe form). It was found that dogs with protein-losing enteropathy had much lower vitamin D levels compared to those whose conditions improved with diet or other treatments. This suggests that low vitamin D may indicate more severe health problems in dogs with chronic digestive issues.
People also search for: dog chronic diarrhea treatment · vitamin D deficiency in dogs · protein-losing enteropathy in dogs
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: In canine chronic enteropathies (CE) and protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), vitamin D deficiency is recognized as a negative prognostic factor, while 25(OH)D status in relation to other clinical phenotypes has been poorly investigated. METHODS: This study aimed to describe differences in CE dogs according to their response to treatment and to reveal potential associations with retrospective clinical and diagnostic data. RESULTS: A total of 91 dogs were obtained from clinical records and categorized based on their response to treatment into the following groups: food-responsive enteropathy (FRE,= 39), microbiota-related modulation-responsive enteropathies (MrMRE,= 26), immunosuppressant-responsive enteropathy (IRE,= 16), and PLE (= 10). 25(OH)D, determined by UHPLC-MS/MS from stored serum samples, differed significantly among groups (< 0.001). Median levels were markedly lower in the PLE group (10.3 ng/mL; range 10-27) than in FRE (33 ng/mL; 10-68) and MrMRE (37 ng/mL; 10-61) groups (< 0.001). IRE group (20 ng/mL; 10-43) also showed reduced concentrations relative to FRE and MrMRE (= 0.006). A multivariable linear regression model obtained using data from 75/91 dogs, revealed that fructosamine and phosphorus were positively associated with 25(OH)D status, while increased c-reactive protein was associated with a lower 25(OH)D. CONCLUSION: In CE dogs, 25(OH)D is negatively affected by inflammation and reflects the severity of clinical characteristics and serum protein-related biomarkers.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41180246/