A prospective study on haematobiochemical aspects of atopic dermatitis in dogs

Abstract

A prospective study on haemato-biochemical aspects of canine atopic dermatitis was conducted in the Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy during the period from 2019 to 2021. Sixteen dogs diagnosed with atopic dermatitis using characteristic clinical (Favrot’s) criteria with exclusion of other pruritic skin diseases, together with elevated Ig E levels and ten healthy animals formed the subjects for the present study. Whole blood samples were collected from atopic and healthy controls and haematobiochemical parameters were estimated. Haemato-biochemical studies of atopic dogs revealed anaemia with leukocytosis, neutrophilia and eosinophilia and hypoalbuminaemia with reduced AG ratio. Absolute eosinophil count that was found positively correlated with neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in atopic dogs, is of diagnostic significance in quantifying inflammatory response which helps in instituting customized treatment to atopic animals in clinical practice. Hypoalbuminaemia observed in atopic animals in the present study indicates the need for nutrient supplementation in the therapeutic protocol of the disease.

Keywords

• atopic dermatitis
• haemogram
• neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio
• dogs