Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Vitamin D levels in sick cats with and without liver disease
By Kibler, Lesli et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2020·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Serum vitamin D status in sick cats with and without cholestatic liver disease.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of sick cats with liver disease was tested for vitamin D levels to see if they were low, which can happen in humans with similar conditions. Out of 36 cats with cholestatic liver disease, about one-third had low vitamin D levels, while 17% of other sick cats did too. Interestingly, the vitamin D levels didn't seem to relate to the severity of liver disease but were lower in cats with liver fat buildup. The researchers suggest that more studies are needed to see if giving vitamin D supplements could help these cats.
People also search for: cat liver disease symptoms · low vitamin D in cats · cat liver disease treatment · cholestatic liver disease in cats · vitamin D supplementation for cats
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D deficiency accompanies chronic cholestatic liver disease (CLD) in humans. The vitamin D status of cats with CLD is unknown. The objectives of this study were to describe serum vitamin D concentrations in cats with CLD and to determine if they correlated with indices of liver disease severity. METHODS: Thirty-six cats with CLD, defined by increases in serum bilirubin and serum alanine aminotransferase, and 23 sick cats with non-hepatobiliary diseases were prospectively enrolled. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D), parathyroid hormone (PTH) and ionized calcium were measured. Signalment, clinical signs, comorbidities, diet history, serum bilirubin, liver enzyme activity, albumin, phosphorus, white blood cell count, prothrombin time and final hepatic cytologic/histopathologic diagnosis, when available, were recorded. RESULTS: Median serum 25(OH)D levels were similar in cats with CLD (89.5 nmol/l; range 21-112 nmol/l) and sick cats (89.0 nmol/l; range 49-115 nmol/l). Overall 12/36 (33%) cats with CLD and 4/23 (17%) sick cats had 25(OH)D levels below the lower limit of the reference interval (<65 nmol/l). Median PTH concentrations in cats with CLD were significantly higher (0.95 pmol/l; range 0-11.3 pmol/l) than in sick cats (0.70 pmol/l; range 0.5-6 pmol/l). In cats with CLD, 6/36 (17%) had high PTH levels in contrast to only 1/23 (4%) sick cats. In cats with CLD, 25(OH)D concentrations did not correlate with serum bilirubin, albumin or serum liver enzymes but were moderately negatively correlated with white blood cell count (r = - 0.402, = 0.013). Cats with hepatic lipidosis had the highest prevalence of 25(OH)D concentrations that fell below the reference interval. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Many cats with CLD have serum 25(OH)D concentrations below the lower limit of the reference interval. Further study is warranted to determine the clinical relevance and whether supplementation would provide benefits.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31916866/