Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Haptoglobin blood levels in dogs with liver disease compared
By Crawford, K et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2013·Northwest Surgeons, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Serum haptoglobin concentrations in dogs with liver disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with liver disease was tested to see if they had higher levels of a protein called haptoglobin in their blood. The study found that dogs with liver issues did not have significantly increased haptoglobin levels compared to healthy dogs or those with other illnesses. However, dogs that were hospitalized for non-liver-related illnesses did show higher haptoglobin levels. This suggests that when evaluating liver disease in dogs, it's important to consider how liver function affects haptoglobin levels.
People also search for: dog liver disease symptoms · elevated haptoglobin in dogs · dog liver function tests · what does haptoglobin mean for dogs
Abstract
Dogs with liver disease have been shown to have increased serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations. However, it is unclear whether dogs with liver disease also have increased serum haptoglobin concentrations. The aim of the study was to measure serum haptoglobin concentrations in healthy dogs, hospitalised dogs and dogs with liver diseases. Haptoglobin concentrations were measured in 30 healthy dogs, 47 hospitalised dogs with non-hepatic illness, 46 dogs with congenital portosystemic shunt (cPSS) and 11 dogs with primary hepatopathy. Haptoglobin concentrations were not significantly different between cPSS dogs with and without hepatic encephalopathy (HE), thus all cPSS dogs were considered as one group. Haptoglobin concentrations were significantly different between the remaining groups (P<0.0001). Hospitalised ill dogs had significantly higher haptoglobin concentrations than healthy dogs (P<0.001), dogs with cPSS (P<0.001) and dogs with primary hepatopathy (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between haptoglobin concentrations in healthy dogs, dogs with cPSS and dogs with primary hepatopathy. Haptoglobin concentrations were not significantly increased in dogs with liver diseases or in dogs with cPSS and HE. This is in contrast with the previously reported CRP results. This study demonstrates that liver function should be considered when interpreting haptoglobin concentrations in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24158322/