Evaluation of serum C-reactive protein concentration as a marker of impending parturition and correlation with progesterone profile in peri-partum bitches

Abstract

C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the major acute phase proteins in dogs; it is produced by the liver and rapidly increases in response to an inflammatory stimulus. The aim of this study was to measure CRP concentrations around parturition and to verify whether this protein could be useful, together with progesterone (P), to detect the end of pregnancy in bitches. CRP and P concentrations were measured on 66 serum samples from 28 healthy pregnant bitches, collected between-5 and +2 days from parturition. The effect of 'days from parturition', parity, and litter size on P and CRP concentration was analyzed. P and CRP values were significantly affected by 'days from parturition'. While P showed the expected decline during the last days of pregnancy, CRP concentration was above the normal range from the day of parturition onwards, beginning to increase at day-1. The CRP concentration profiles during the days around parturition have not been previously reported in the dog. However, the late rise and the low magnitude of increase make CRP difficult to use in clinical practice to assess the end of pregnancy in the bitch.

Acute Phase Proteins response and their clinical application in veterinary medicine

“…According to Rota et al, (2019), an increase in CRP concentration has been detected in the first or second trimester of pregnancy in the bitch, indicators in bitches clinically healthy and with pyometra, two groups were studied, one without pyometra and other with pyometra. It was observed that the total number of leukocytes, fibrinogen and CRP were higher for the group of animals with pyometra.…”

An aptasensor based on the microscopic enumeration of encoding gold nanoparticles for the detection of C-reactive protein

“…The limit of detection (LOD) of CRP was calculated to be 2.71 nM, which was much lower than that in human serum (9 nM). 27 When the concentration of CRP added to the probe solution was high enough, the color of the supernatant changed from colorless to pink, as shown in Fig. S6, † indicating that more AuNPs were displaced into the solution.…”