Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate routinely used tests to diagnose cats in early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and to describe a model for evaluating these variables simultaneously. Apparently healthy cats were screened using serum creatinine (sCr), point-of-care symmetric dimethylarginine (POC SDMA), urinalysis, urine protein/creatinine ratio (UPC) and imaging evaluation. Those parameters were compared to glomerular filtration rate (GFR) assessed by renal scintigraphy. Forty-four cats were included and consisted of 14 (31.8%) healthy cats (absence of abnormalities in renal morphology and sCr less than 1.6 mg/dL), 20 (45.5%) cats classified as CKD I (presence of abnormalities in renal morphology and sCr less than 1.6 mg/dL) and ten (22.7%) as CKD II (sCr equal to or greater than 1.6 mg/dL, with or without abnormalities in renal morphology). A large number (40.9%) of apparently healthy cats presented reduction in GFR, which included half of CKD I patients. Point-of-care SDMA was not a good predictor for decreased GFR, nor was it correlated with the variables GFR and sCr. Glomerular filtration rate was significantly lower in CKD I and II groups in comparison with healthy cats, but there was no significant difference between the CKD I and II groups. Multivariate logistic regression model identified three variables that affected the odds of a cat having decreased GFR (< 2.5 mL/min/kg): sCr (OR = 18.3; p = 0.019; CI = 1.6–207.2), and the ultrasonographic findings ‘reduced corticomedullary definition’ (OR = 19.9; p = 0.022; CI = 1.6–254.0) and ‘irregular contour’ (OR = 65.6; p = 0.003; CI = 4.2–1038.2). Renal ultrasonography evaluation should always be considered for screening early CKD in apparently healthy cats.
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The datasets in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. All data and materials are available for publication.
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Acknowledgements
To Dr. Angelica Rosat Consiglio and Dr. Ana Lígia Lia de Paula Ramos from Laboratório de Biofísica Nuclear, Departamento de Biofísica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, for allowing the use of facilities to perform scintigraphy. To Eduardo Herz Berdichevski for the support in the interpretation of the scintigraphy exams, and to Guilherme Pfeiffer da Silva for the support in the interpretation of the radiographic exams. To Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Ministério da Educação (CAPES), Brazil – Finance code 001.
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The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research: IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., provided SDMA sample slides for POC testing and performed SDMA measurements at its Reference Laboratories.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by GCS, MMB, JRHB, IBR, FPSM and BSS. Data analyses were performed by GCS, MMB, FVAC, SFV and MPF. The first draft of the manuscript was written by GCS. FVAC reviewed the versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The work described in this manuscript involved the use of non-experimental owned animals and had prior ethical approval from an established committee as stated in the manuscript. Written informed consent was obtained from the owner or legal custodian of all animals described in this work for all procedures undertaken.
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Although IDEXX provided the SDMA tests, the authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the methodology and execution of the research, as well as in the analysis of the data and publication of the results obtained.
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da Cruz Schaefer, G., de Mattos Brose, M., Herrera Becerra, J.R. et al. Comparison of serum creatinine, point-of-care symmetric dimethylarginine and renal imaging with glomerular filtration rate measured by renal scintigraphy in healthy and early chronic kidney diseased cats. Vet Res Commun 47, 1845–1859 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-023-10131-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-023-10131-z