Concentrations of Acute‐Phase Proteins in Dogs with Steroid Responsive Meningitis‐Arteritis

Abstract

Background: Measurement of concentrations of acute-phase proteins (APPs) is used as an aid in the diagnosis of a variety of diseases in animals.Objective: To determine the concentration of APPs in dogs with steroid responsive meningitis-arteritis (SRMA) and other neurologic diseases.Animals: One hundred and thirty-three dogs with neurologic diseases, 6 dogs with sepsis, and 8 healthy dogs were included in the study. Thirty-six dogs had SRMA (31 of which had monitoring), 14 dogs had other meningoencephalitides (ME), 32 had disk disease (IVDD/DLSS), 26 had tumors affecting the central nervous system (TCNS), and 25 had idiopathic epilepsy (IE).Methods: Prospective, observational study: C-reactive protein (CRP), a 2 -macroglobulin (AMG), and albumin concentrations were determined in the serum or plasma. CRP was also measured in the cerebrospinal fluid.Results: Serum CRP was significantly higher in dogs with SRMA (x 5 142 mg/mL AE 75) and sepsis (x 5 114 mg/mL AE 67) in comparison with dogs with other neurologic diseases (x 5 2.3-21 mg/mL; P o .001). There was no significant difference detected in AMG between groups. Serum albumin concentration was significantly lower (P o .01) in dogs with SRMA (x 5 3.2 g/dL AE 0.41) than in other groups (x 5 3.6-3.9 g/dL). Serum CRP concentration of SRMA dogs correlated with alkaline phosphatase levels (r 5 0.515, P 5 .003).Conclusions and Clinical Importance: CRP concentrations in serum are useful in diagnosis of dogs with SRMA. Serum CRP could be used as a monitoring parameter in treatment management of these dogs.

Canine C-Reactive Protein Measurements in Cerebrospinal Fluid by a Time-Resolved Immunofluorimetric Assay

“…1,12 It should be pointed out that slightly high values of CRP were recorded in some cases of IE, which may be the result of secondary inflammation due to muscle damage associated with a possible recent epilepsy attack. The TR-IFMA was sensitive enough to detect CRP values in CSF from all cases assessed, unlike a previous ELISA, 1 which could not detect CRP concentrations in healthy dogs or in 79 of 133 dogs with varying CNS diseases.…”

“…Specimens with potentially low CRP concentrations were obtained from dogs with IE, and specimens with potentially high CRP concentrations were obtained from dogs with SRMA based on previously reported data. 1 The intra-assay variation was expressed as the coefficient of variation (CV) and was determined by measuring 2 pooled canine CSF samples, with potentially low and high content of CRP, 6 times in the same analytic run. The interassay variation was assessed by measuring the same samples on 3 different days.…”

“…2 Estimation of CRP levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is gaining attention since the simultaneous determination of CRP in CSF and in serum has been useful to increase the diagnostic sensitivity in cases of selected neurologic diseases. 22 In veterinary medicine, CRP has been measured in the CSF of dogs, demonstrating that it is useful in the diagnosis of steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis (SRMA), 1,12 one of the most commonly diagnosed meningitides in dogs. C-reactive protein values in the CSF of dogs with SRMA were significantly higher than in healthy dogs and dogs suffering intervertebral disk disease (IVDD) and/or degenerative lumbosacral stenosis (DLSS), central nervous system (CNS) tumors, and idiopathic epilepsy (IE).…”

“…C-reactive protein values in the CSF of dogs with SRMA were significantly higher than in healthy dogs and dogs suffering intervertebral disk disease (IVDD) and/or degenerative lumbosacral stenosis (DLSS), central nervous system (CNS) tumors, and idiopathic epilepsy (IE). 1 In previous studies, CRP levels in CSF were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) 7 and an immunoturbidimetric assay. 12 However, these methodologies do not seem to be sensitive enough to detect the small CRP concentrations present in this type of biological fluid in healthy animals and animals with different diseases such as IVDD, DLSS, and IE, since CRP values reported were in many cases below the detection limit of the assays.…”

An update on meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown aetiology in dogs

“…Cerebrospinal fluid analysis is characterized by increased total nucleated cell count (reference range: <5-8 leucocytes μL -1 for cerebellomedullary cistern collection) (Di Terlizzi and Platt, 2006;Bathen-Noethen et al, 2008). a predominance of neutrophils in the absence of bacteria is recorded in animals with acute form of the disease (Fig.…”