Urinary phoretograms performed by capillary electrophoresis in dogs with chronic disease with or without Leishmania infantum infection

Abstract

IntroductionThe study of early markers to detect kidney malfunction has increased in recent years since serum markers, such as creatinine increase when there is a 75% loss of renal mass. Urinary capillary electrophoresis (UCE) is an available laboratory technique that provides an easily interpretable electrophoretic pattern. This pattern in our study has been divided into five fractions as it is done in serum: fraction 1 migrating in the albumin zone, fraction 2 in the alpha1-globulins zone, fraction 3 in the alpha2-globulins zone, fraction 4 in the beta-globulins zone, and fraction 5 in the gamma globulins zone. UCE can be useful in the early diagnosis of renal disease.Material and methodsIn this study, UCE was performed in dogs with azotemia and proteinuria due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) not related to Leishmania infantum (L. infantum) infection (G1, n = 11) and dogs with CKD related to L. infantum infection (G2, n = 17) and compared with reference intervals from healthy dogs (G0, n = 123), with the aim of comparing their phoretograms and assessing changes in the fractions of the phoretograms based on the health status of individuals.ResultsFraction 2 was statistically augmented in dogs with CKD (G1) when compared with the healthy population (G0) and dogs infected by L. infantum (G2). Fraction 3 was statistically increased in dogs with CKD (G1) and dogs infected by L. infantum (G2) compared with G0. Fraction 4 was found to be statistically decreased in dogs with CKD (G1) and dogs infected by L. infantum (G2) compared with G0. Fraction 5 was statistically higher in dogs with L. infantum (G2) compared with G0 and dogs with CKD (G1). No statistical relationship was found between the protein to creatinine ratio and different fractions from the urinary phoretogram in the study population. No statistical relationship was found between serum and urine fractions in the study population.DiscussionThe results of the present study suggest that UCE is a promising non-invasive technique that might be used as a part of the diagnostic and follow-up in dogs with kidney disease due to different pathologies.

Urinary Electrophoretograms Performed by Capillary Electrophoresis: Comparison between Dogs and Cats

“…The lack of correlation between the serum and urinary fractions in G 1 may be attributed to the healthy status of the population and the expected low protein excretion in urine [40]. Previous studies have also reported a lack of association between serum and urine fractions in healthy dogs or dogs with kidney disease, where hypoalbuminemia is commonly observed [25].…”

“…It has proven to be a sensitive specific tool for detecting and characterizing different protein fractions in urine, including albumin, globulins, and other low-molecular-weight proteins [2][3][4]. Urinary capillary electrophoresis has been used in studies to assess proteinuria in dogs, providing information on protein profiles and possible alterations associated with renal and systemic diseases [25]. Instead, agarose gel electrophoresis is a widely used technique for separating proteins in biological samples.…”

“…UCE is a technique still under study, although interval references for the canine species have been determined [8]. Moreover, electrophoretogram patterns for dogs with azotemia due to Leishmania infantum (L. infantum) or chronic kidney disease not associated with Leishmaniosis, compared to healthy ones, have been described with UCE [25].…”

“…Although quantitative proteinuria can only be assessed by the urine protein:creatinine (UPC) ratio, urine electrophoresis can be used as a semi-quantitative method and provides different patterns that can be related to health or renal and extrarenal diseases [16][17][18]25,26]. In UCE, the proteins in each fraction cannot be identified by their molecular weight as in gel electrophoresis, which may be a disadvantage in evaluating glomerular or tubular proteinuria [4].…”

“…In UCE, the proteins in each fraction cannot be identified by their molecular weight as in gel electrophoresis, which may be a disadvantage in evaluating glomerular or tubular proteinuria [4]. The combination of the UCE technique with mass spectrophotometry or immunofixation could assess which proteins are excreted in each fraction of the urinary electrophoretogram so that these proteins could be used as urinary biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of different pathologies [25]. The aim of this study was to use urinary capillary electrophoresis in healthy cats for the first time and a comparison of urinary electrophoretograms in healthy dogs and cats to assess the difference between the two species.…”