Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Urine cortisol and cortisone levels in hypertensive and normal cats
By Walker, David J et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2009·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Urinary cortisol/cortisone ratios in hypertensive and normotensive cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of older cats with high blood pressure (hypertension) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) was studied to see if their bodies were converting cortisol to cortisone properly. Researchers found that the balance of these hormones in the urine was different in healthy cats compared to those with hypertension or CKD, but treatment with amlodipine, a common blood pressure medication, did not change this balance. This suggests that the way cats process these hormones might actually be better in those with kidney issues than in healthy cats. The exact reason for this is still unclear, but it indicates a complex relationship between kidney health and hormone levels in cats.
People also search for: cat high blood pressure treatment · chronic kidney disease in cats · amlodipine for cats hypertension
Abstract
Hypertension is a common problem in older cats, particularly associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Reduced activity of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 predisposes to hypertension in human patients by allowing excessive stimulation of the mineralocorticoid receptor by cortisol. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that reduced conversion of cortisol to cortisone contributes to the development of systemic hypertension in some cats with CKD and idiopathic hypertension (iHT). The study included 60 client-owned cats: 21 clinically normal, 16 normotensive cats with CKD (NTCKD), 14 hypertensive cats with CKD (HTCKD) and nine iHTs. Urine cortisol and cortisone were extracted into dichloromethane and chloroform, respectively, prior to analysis by radioimmunoassay. Data are reported as median and range. The Kruskall-Wallis test was used to compare cortisol:cortisone ratios between groups with post-hoc testing using the Mann-Whitney U test. Wilcoxon signed-ranks test was used to compare results before and after treatment of hypertensive cats with amlodipine. The urinary cortisol:cortisone ratio was significantly higher in clinically normal cats (0.87; 0.46-1.39) when compared to NTCKD (0.60; 0.35-1.20; P<0.001), HTCKD (0.62; 0.34-1.00; P=0.002) and cats with iHT (0.65; 0.46-0.85; P=0.015). No statistical difference was detected between NTCKD, HTCKD and iHT groups. No effect of anti-hypertensive treatment on the urinary cortisol-cortisone ratio was detected (P=0.327). Reduced urinary cortisol to cortisone conversion does not appear to be associated with systemic hypertension in cats. In fact, the cortisol to cortisone shuttle appears to be more effective in cats with CKD (hypertensive and normotensive) and iHT than clinically normal cats. The mechanism for this potentially adaptive response to kidney disease is not clear.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19058985/