Diagnostic value of "cuticular index" measuring in dogs with liver and kidney pathology

Сondition of hair reflects changes in metabolism in animals and humans in relatively long period of time. Thus, the study of hair of domestic dogs with different variants of pathology, in particular nephropathy and polyorgan pathology of liver and kidney is relevant and appropriate in terms of differential diagnosis and establishment of little-known links in the pathogenesis of diseases of these organs. The aim of this study was to establish the diagnostic meaning of «cuticular index» of sick dogs. The object of the study was 60 dogs with confirmed diagnoses. The animals were examined by general clinical methods (temperature, pulse, and respiratory rate were determined) and blood was taken from the jugular vein for biochemical research. Hair samples were obtained and the «cuticular index» was determined. Examination of the cuticle was performed using prints on a colorless varnish, which was applied to a glass slide, pressing the hair to the varnish layer. Then, when the varnish hardened, the hair was removed by the edge from the peripheral end. The impression was studied under a microscope (in. x 400) and set the value of «cuticular index» in the root zone, in the thickest part of the hair shaft, expressed in μm2. Based on the results obtained during clinical and laboratory studies, we have formed groups of sick dogs, which became the basis for studying the dynamics of the «cuticular index» (CI). It was found that in different variants of nephropathy and in the development of hepatic-renal and renal-hepatic syndromes in dogs, significant structural changes occur in the liver and kidney, which correspond to violations of metabolic processes determined by the results of clinical microscopic and biochemical blood tests, as well as changes in the area of the outer surface of the cells of hair cuticle, which we have defined as the «cuticular index». The method of determining the «cuticular index» can be used in differential diagnosis of kidney and liver pathology in combination with clinical, instrumental and laboratory studies, as well as for dispensary examination of animals. The article provides examples of various variants of pathology with the definition of «cuticular index»