Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Urinary markers show kidney injury in dogs after European adder bite
By Gordin, E et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2021·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Urinary clusterin and cystatin B as biomarkers of tubular injury in dogs following envenomation by the European adder.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs that were bitten by European adders showed signs of kidney injury, even though traditional kidney tests didn't indicate any problems. Researchers found higher levels of two new markers, urinary clusterin and cystatin B, in these dogs, suggesting they had tubular injury. This means that these markers could help detect kidney issues earlier than standard tests. The study highlights the potential for these markers to improve diagnosis and treatment for dogs suffering from snake bites.
People also search for: dog snake bite symptoms · dog kidney injury treatment · European adder envenomation in dogs
Abstract
Diagnosing acute kidney injury remains a challenge since the established renal biomarkers, serum creatinine (sCr) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) reflect glomerular function and not tubular injury. Sensitive tubular markers such as urinary clusterin (uClust) and cystatin B (uCysB) have been proposed to detect AKI at an earlier stage. Since envenomation by the European adder (Vipera berus berus) could serve as a spontaneous disease model of AKI we investigated these new biomarkers in affected dogs. Concentrations of uClust and uCysB as well as sCr and SDMA were analyzed retrospectively in stored samples from 26 dogs with snake envenomation and 13 healthy controls. Higher concentrations of uClust (P < 0.012) and uCysB (P < 0.001) were observed in the snake-envenomed group. Normalization of uClust and uCysB to urinary creatinine did not alter the results. No differences were observed in sCr and SDMA between the snake-envenomed group and the healthy control group. Spearman rank correlation analysis revealed a strong association of uClust with uCysB in the snake-envenomed dogs (r = 0.75 P < 0.001) but not in the healthy controls. The high percentage of snake-envenomed dogs with increased uClust and uCysB concentrations in the absence of increased sCr and SDMA suggests renal tubular injury in the affected dogs. Larger prospective case-controlled studies are warranted to evaluate the clinical utility and prognostic value of these biomarkers.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33278755/