Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (May 2022)

Serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D and C‐reactive protein and plasma von Willebrand concentrations in 23 dogs with chronic hepatopathies

  • Yoko M. Ambrosini,
  • Cesar Piedra‐Mora,
  • Sam Jennings,
  • Cynthia R. L. Webster

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16424
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 36, no. 3
pp. 966 – 975

Abstract

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Abstract Background Serum concentrations of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)VD) and C‐reactive protein (CRP) and von Willebrand's factor (vWF) concentration correlate with histopathologic disease grade and stage in chronic inflammatory and fibrotic hepatopathies (CH) in humans. Objectives To evaluate serum 25(OH)VD and serum CRP concentrations and plasma vWF concentration and determine if they correlate with histopathologic and biochemical variables in dog with CH. Animals Twenty‐three client‐owned dogs with a histopathologic diagnosis of CH were prospectively enrolled. Methods Blood samples were collected before liver biopsy. Correlations between biomarkers and clinical pathological and histopathologic variables were evaluated using Pearson's or Spearman's test. Results Serum 25(OH)VD concentration (median, 213 nmol/L; range, 42‐527 nmol/L) was negatively correlated with serum aspartate aminotransferase activity (AST; rho = −0.59, P < .01), polymorphonuclear neutrophil count (PMN; r = −0.46, P < .05), and positively correlated with serum albumin concentration (r = 0.69, P < .001). Serum CRP concentration (median, 7.4 μg/L; range, 1‐44.9 μg/L) was positively correlated with overall histopathologic necroinflammatory activity (r = 0.78, P < .001) and fibrosis score (rho = 0.49, P < .05). Plasma vWF concentration (median, 73.3%; range, 15‐141%) was positively correlated with fibrosis score (r = 0.53, P < .05) and prothrombin time (rho = 0.67, P < .01), and negatively correlated with serum albumin concentration (r = −0.73, P < .001). Conclusion and Clinical Importance In dogs with CH, serum 25(OH)VD concentration was negatively correlated with disease activity, whereas serum CRP concentration and plasma vWF concentration were positively correlated with histopathologic grade and stage. Our results provide preliminary evidence that these biomarkers may be useful to assess grade and stage of CH in dogs in the absence of liver biopsy.

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