Prednisolone therapy for atopic dermatitis is less effective in dogs with lower pretreatment serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D concentrations

Abstract

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations were measured in 20 dogs with atopic dermatitis prior to treatment with a standard therapeutic dosage of prednisolone (0.93-1.06 mg/kg) every other day for 5 weeks after 7 days of treatment with the same dosage once daily. The severity of their physical signs was scored before and 6 weeks after prednisolone treatment by the canine atopic dermatitis extent and severity index version 3 (CADESI-03) and the Edinburgh Pruritus Scale (EPS). The 20 dogs with atopic dermatitis that were treated with prednisolone did not have significantly lower serum concentrations of 25(OH)D than a group of 36 healthy dogs, and the physical severity of the atopic dermatitis was not correlated to pretreatment serum 25(OH)D concentrations. However, dogs which had a marked improvement of their physical signs, defined by a post-treatment EPS score of 0 and/or an 85% reduction in CADESI-03 score, had significantly higher pretreatment serum 25(OH)D concentrations than dogs with a suboptimal response (P = 0.003 and P = 0.03, respectively). Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were also measured in a previously published cohort of atopic dogs that were treated with ciclosporin. This cohort of dogs was recruited in a similar time frame to the prednisolone-treated dogs, and all samples were handled in the same way. In contrast to the prednisolone-treated dogs, there was no significant difference in 25(OH)D concentrations in dogs that responded optimally to ciclosporin compared with suboptimal responders. Additional studies are required to establish whether vitamin D has a synergistic therapeutic effect with prednisolone in dogs with atopic dermatitis.

Vitamin D status in cats with feline immunodeficiency virus

“…In addition it has been shown that low vitamin D status is associated with a poorer response to prednisolone treatment for canine atopic skin disease (Kovalik et al . ).…”

“…It has been demonstrated that low serum concentrations 25(OH)D are associated with an increased risk of 30 day mortality in sick cats (Titmarsh et al 2015). In addition it has been shown that low vitamin D status is associated with a poorer response to prednisolone treatment for canine atopic skin disease (Kovalik et al 2012b).…”

Review: Innate immunity, lipid metabolism and nutrition in canine atopic dermatitis

“…There is evidence that the growth of canine mast cell tumours is inhibited by vitamin D, and Labrador retriever dogs with low vitamin D levels have an increased risk in developing mast cell tumours . It is tempting to speculate that vitamin D may play a role in other mast cell‐related diseases, including AD, and in one study lower serum vitamin D levels were associated with a suboptimal response to prednisolone therapy . However, it is important to note that vitamin D levels did not correlate with the presence or severity of disease but only with the response to therapy.…”

Review: The role of antibodies, autoantigens and food allergens in canine atopic dermatitis

“…with or without detectable allergen‐specific IgE) . In some dogs, the diagnosis of AD was made based upon clinical signs alone; in others, the method of diagnosis (specifically, whether the presence of allergen‐specific IgE was determined directly in serum or indirectly via IDT) was not mentioned or was unclear . On the face of it, such distinctions seem to matter little, because AD is generally considered to be a clinical diagnosis in dogs (largely because of the variabilities in IgE reactivity discussed above).…”