Chronic Enteropathy & Canine Metabolomic Profiles

Walker HK, Boag AM, Ottka C, et al. Serum metabolomic profiles in dogs with chronic enteropathy. J Vet Intern Med. 2022;1-8. doi:10.1111/jvim.16419

Diagnosis and prognostication of canine chronic enteropathy (CE) can be challenging with current diagnostic approaches, but measuring serum metabolic biomarkers may be a noninvasive method of diagnosis. This method has improved accuracy, as well as better prediction and monitoring of treatment response; however, few of these biomarker measurements are used clinically. Metabolomic profiles in dogs with CE and healthy dogs are not well characterized, and comprehensive studies are lacking.

This study* sought to compare metabolomic profiles of dogs with histopathologically confirmed CE (n = 55) with those of healthy controls (n = 240). A canine-specific proton nuclear magnetic resonance (ie, ¹H NMR) spectroscopy analytical platform was used to measure 99 serum metabolites. Differences in 19 metabolites and 18 lipoprotein composition indexes were identified; this may prompt further research into diagnostic and prognostic approaches to canine CE, as well as therapeutic trials.

*This study was partially supported by PetBIOMICS.