Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency combined with insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus in a juvenile German shepherd dog

Abstract

Canine juvenile-onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is a rare disease. While pancreatic acinar atrophy is a well known picture in the dog, the simultaneous occurrence with an endocrine insufficiency has never been clearly established. The clinical, pathological and immunohistochemical findings of a three-month-old German shepherd dog with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus concurrent with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency are described.

Juvenile Diabetes Mellitus Accompanied by Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency in a Dog

“…Moreover, although immunohistochemical testing of the pancreas was not performed, the histopathological findings indicated that there was an insufficient number of islet cells and a loss of acinar cells. These changes in the pancreas were consistent with the findings of a case of concurrent DM and EPI reported previously [17]. There are a few published reports of histopathological study of young dogs with DM [1,2,16].…”

“…In these reports [1,2,16], however, TLI was not measured, and the various complications, such as cataract formation, were also not reported. In the present case, no inflammatory changes, such as lymphocytic infiltration, were observed in the pancreas, which is similar to cases of juvenile-onset DM reported previously [1,2,16,17]. Lymphocytic infiltration of pancreatic islets has been suggested to occur in only a portion of dogs with adult-onset DM [2,6], but recently one case of lymphocytic insulitis in a juvenile dog with DM has been reported [15].…”

“…The recognized clinical forms of canine juvenile DM are insulin deficiency diabetes [1,2] and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus [17], although there are no internationally accepted criteria for classification of canine DM [6]. Recently, a case of juvenile DM similar to human type 1 DM was described in a dog [15].…”

“…Since a case of PAA with EPI symptoms was described in a 3-month-old German shepherd with DM [17], clinicians have noted the possibility that EPI can occur simultaneously with canine juvenile-onset DM. However, concurrent DM is very rare in young dogs with EPI due to PAA because the endocrine portion of the pancreas in dogs with PAA is usually well preserved [6,18].…”

Spontaneous Diabetes Mellitus in Animals

“…Generally, canine diabetes mellitus is clinically diagnosed in dogs with 4-18 years of age, the median age at diagnosis being 7-9 years [37,[44][45][46]. Swedish study [37] UK study [44] North America study [ Juvenile onset of the disease is an uncommon event and it has been recorded in dogs with less than 12 months of age [47][48][49]. Several studies concluded that females are prone to diabetes (more than 70% of diagnosed cases) [37].…”