Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Urine tests for alkaline phosphatase help diagnose acute kidney
By Nivy, Ran et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2017·Koret School of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Utility of urinary alkaline phosphatase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase in diagnosing acute kidney injury in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with acute kidney injury (AKI) was evaluated using tests that measure certain enzymes in their urine. The study found that while urinary alkaline phosphatase (uALP) was better than another enzyme, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (uGGT), neither test was reliable enough on its own to diagnose AKI. However, these tests could still be useful as additional tools to help confirm a diagnosis when used alongside other methods. If your dog shows signs of kidney issues, it's important to discuss these tests with your veterinarian for a comprehensive evaluation.
People also search for: dog kidney injury symptoms · dog urine test for kidney disease · how to treat acute kidney injury in dogs
Abstract
The diagnostic utility of urinary alkaline phosphatase (uALP) and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (uGGT) activities in naturally occurring acute kidney injury (AKI) was investigated in a heterogeneous group of dogs. The study included client-owned dogs with AKI (n = 32), chronic kidney disease (CKD, n = 13), lower urinary tract infection (LUTI, n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 24). uGGT and uALP activities were normalised to urinary creatinine (uCr) concentrations (uGGT/uCr and uALP/uCr, respectively). uALP/uCr and uGGT/uCr were positively and significantly correlated (r = 0.619, P <0.001), and differed significantly (P ≤ 0.001) among groups, as well as between AKI and LUTI or CKD groups (P < 0.05), but not between the AKI and control groups. Areas under the receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve for uALP/uCr and uGGT/uCr as predictors of AKI were 0.75 and 0.65, respectively, with optimal cut-off points showing poor to moderate sensitivity (59% for uALP/uCr and 79% for uGGT/uCr) and specificity (59% for uALP/uCr and 75% for uGGT/uCr). Higher cut-off points, with 90% specificity, showed low sensitivity (41% for both uALP/uCr and uGGT/uCr). In conclusion, uALP/uCr is superior to uGGT/uCr as a marker of AKI, but both uGGT/uCr and uALP/uCr have unsatisfactory discriminatory power for diagnosing naturally occurring AKI in dogs and therefore cannot be recommended as sole screening tests for canine AKI. However, both may serve as ancillary, confirmatory, biomarkers for detecting AKI in dogs if appropriate cut-off points with high specificities are used.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28190493/