Effect of age, sex, and body size on the blood biochemistry and physiological constants of dogs from 4 wk. to > 52 wk. of age.

BMC Vet Res. August 2021;17(1):265.

Ana Luisa Montoya Navarrete¹, Teódulo Quezada-Tristán², Samuel Lozano Santillán³, Raúl Ortiz-Martínez⁴, Arturo Gerardo Valdivia-Flores⁵, Lizbeth Martínez-Martínez⁶, María Carolina De Luna López⁷

¹ Department of Veterinary Clinic, Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, La Posta Zootécnica, Jesús María, C.P.20908, Aguascalientes, Mexico.; ² Department of Veterinary Clinic, Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, La Posta Zootécnica, Jesús María, C.P.20908, Aguascalientes, Mexico. teodulo.quezada@edu.uaa.mx.; ³ Department of Veterinary Clinic, Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, La Posta Zootécnica, Jesús María, C.P.20908, Aguascalientes, Mexico.; ⁴ Department of Veterinary Clinic, Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, La Posta Zootécnica, Jesús María, C.P.20908, Aguascalientes, Mexico.; ⁵ Department of Veterinary Clinic, Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, La Posta Zootécnica, Jesús María, C.P.20908, Aguascalientes, Mexico.; ⁶ Department of Veterinary Clinic, Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, La Posta Zootécnica, Jesús María, C.P.20908, Aguascalientes, Mexico.; ⁷ Department of Veterinary Clinic, Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, La Posta Zootécnica, Jesús María, C.P.20908, Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Blood biochemistry and reference intervals help to differentiate between healthy and ill dogs as well as to provide information for the prognosis, evaluation, and monitoring; however, these intervals are often obtained from adult animals. It is essential to understand that puppies and adults are physiologically different, which justifies the need to obtain age-specific biochemical reference intervals. The aim of this research was to assess the potential effect of age, sex, body size, and their interaction on routine biochemical analytes and physiological constants (body temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate). To carry out the research, we selected 197 healthy dogs of both sexes and different body sizes (small, medium and large) classified by age: group I (4-8 wk), group II (9-24 wk), group III (25-52 wk), and group IV (> 52 wk). The biochemical analysis included the measurement of the enzymatic activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and the concentrations of cholesterol, triglycerides, total proteins, albumin, globulins, glucose, urea, and creatinine. Statistical analyses used analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a general linear model (GLM), which allows the comparison of multiple factors at two or more levels (p < 0.05).

RESULTS:The results of this study showed that ALT, total protein, albumin, globulin, urea, creatinine, and body temperature levels were lower in puppies than in adult dogs of group IV (p < 0.05), while the enzymatic activity of ALP, LDH, glucose concentration, and heart rate were higher. Whereas sex, body size and the interaction did not show a significant effect (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:Some biochemical components are influenced by age. For this reason, this manuscript contributes with additional data for the clinical interpretation of blood biochemical results in puppies.

Keywords

Blood chemistry; Clinical pathology; Physiological constants; Puppies; Reference intervals;

Article Tools:

Medline

Email to me

Archives Highlights:

Survey of self-reported radiation safety practices among North American veterinary technicians involved in equine radiography using portable x-ray equipment.
Lead apron use was suboptimal, reported as "always" for 80.0% (104/130) of tube operators and 83.1% (123/148) of cassette holders. Approximately 20% of participants never wore thyroid shields, and approximately 90% never wore lead eyeglasses. Almost 50% of participants did not have lead eyeglasses available. Although > 55% of participants always held the x-ray equipment by hand, 58.4% (73/125) of tube operators and 25.0% (35/140) of cassette holders never wore gloves.

Multimodal Pain Management for Canine Osteoarthritis
Weight control, medications, joint supplements, and physical rehabilitation are the main components of OA management. When selecting treatments, veterinarians should consider the efficacy, safety profile, mechanism of action, and patient response for each. Although not all dogs respond equally to all treatments, cooperation among all parties is vital to carry out an appropriate management program, and monitoring is essential to help with decision-making for further treatment.

Serum concentrations of gabapentin in cats with chronic kidney disease.
Cats with CKD that received 10 mg/kg of gabapentin had significantly higher dose-normalized serum concentrations than normal cats that received 20 mg/kg, supporting the need to dose-reduce in this patient population.

Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation in Horses: Pathophysiology, Diagnostics and Clinical Aspects.
The arrhythmia is diagnosed by auscultation and electrocardiography (ECG), and clinical signs can vary from sudden loss of racing performance to reduced fitness or no signs at all. If left untreated, pAF may promote electrical, functional, and structural remodeling of the myocardium, thus creating a substrate that is able to maintain the arrhythmia, which over time may progress into permanent AF.

Non-blinded treatment of aural -hematoma with oral prednisolone as a monotherapy in privately-owned dogs.
Clinicians treated 24 privately-owned dogs suffering from aural hematoma with oral prednisolone at 1?mg/kg/day for 14 days, followed by 0.5?mg/kg/day for another 14 days. The success was assessed subjectively after 14 days by the owner and after 28 days by a clinician or specialist. In 21 of 24 dogs, oral prednisolone treatment for 28 days led to a subjective clinical improvement of at least 80%.