Cholesterol concentration is associated with neither prognosis nor bacterial infection type in septic dogs.

Objective: The objective was to assess whether cholesterol concentration at admission was associated with outcome and disease severity in dogs with sepsis, and to determine whether there was a significant difference in cholesterol between dogs with gram-positive versus gram-negative sepsis.

Animals and procedure: Electronic medical records of dogs diagnosed with sepsis at a tertiary teaching hospital from 2012 to 2022 were evaluated. A total of 299 dogs were included. Data obtained included signalment, comorbidities, cholesterol concentration, culture results, duration of hospitalization, cost of hospitalization, and outcome. An acute patient physiological and laboratory evaluation fast score (APPLE_fast) was calculated for every included dog.

Results: In septic dogs, there was no significant difference in cholesterol concentration between survivors and non-survivors. Cholesterol concentration was not significantly associated with disease severity in dogs with sepsis and there was no significant difference in cholesterol concentration between dogs with grampositive versus gram-negative sepsis. However, a higher cholesterol concentration was associated with longer duration of hospitalization in surviving dogs.

Conclusion and clinical relevance: There were no significant correlations between cholesterol concentration and outcome, disease severity, or bacterial type in dogs with sepsis. Therefore, cholesterol does not appear to be a reliable biomarker of sepsis in dogs. Further research is warranted to understand the role of lipids in response to sepsis in dogs.