Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration in Japanese Akita dogs: A survey

Abstract

Highlights Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are detected in Japanese Akita dogs. Healthy Akitas show a higher level of vitamin D than pathological ones. Depigmented skin areas appearance is associated with low levels of vitamin D. Sebaceous adenitis is the prevalent disease recorded among investigated Akitas.

Increased dietary vitamin D was associated with increased circulating vitamin D with no observable adverse effects in adult dogs

“…Because the prior study used dogs with lower concentrations, there may have been specific controlling factors that contributed to that group’s relatively small observed increase in serum 25(OH) D with vitamin D supplementation. Other studies that reported reference values for 25(OH) D in healthy dogs found median serum concentrations of 52.5 ng/mL [range: 14.0–155.6 ng/mL, corresponding to a median of 131.0 nM (range: 34.9–388.3 nM)] ( 25 ), 67.9 ng/mL (range: 16.9–349.2 ng/mL) ( 26 ), and 68.9 ng/mL (range 9.5–249.2 ng/mL) ( 12 ) and mean of 84.90 ± 3.36 ng/mL ( 27 ). Since these values are less than the 100 ng/mL suggested as the minimum ( 12 ), this indicates that a large number of dogs may benefit from increased dietary vitamin D. However, some of the variation in values among these studies could be due to the use of different assays for circulating vitamin D and a lack of standardization among laboratories.…”