Disruption of oxidant-antioxidant balance and its correlation with intestinal injury and clinical severity in dogs with canine parvoviral gastroenteritis.

Background: The present study was undertaken to study the correlation between oxidative stress indices and the severity of intestinal injury and clinical signs in dogs with canine parvoviral gastroenteritis (CPVGE).

Methods: Dogs with CPVGE were divided into three groups: mild, moderate, and severe, each containing nine animals based on their total clinical score. Nine apparently healthy animals were taken as control. The serum levels of oxidative stress indices such as lipid peroxide (LPO), reduced glutathione (GSH), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), as wells as intestinal biomarkers such as intestinal fatty acid binding protein (IFABP), trefoil factor 3 (TFF-3), and intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) were estimated using commercially available kits.

Results: LPO level was significantly (P < 0.05) higher, and GSH and T-AOC levels were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in moderate and severe groups compared to control group indicating disruption of oxidant-antioxidant balance. The serum levels of IFABP, TFF-3 and IAP were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in CPVGE affected groups as compared to control group, and the values were significantly (P < 0.05) increased with disease severity. When LPO was correlated with IFABP (r = 0.809), TFF-3 (r = 0.818), IAP (r = 0.657) and clinical score (r = 0.814), it revealed a positive correlation. A negative correlation was noticed in case of GSH with IFABP (r = -0.449), TFF-3 (r = -0.590), IAP (r = -0.423) and clinical score (r = -0.495), and T-AOC with IFABP (r = -0.619), TFF-3 (r = -0.668), IAP (r = -0.467) and clinical score (r = -0.689). A positive correlation was noticed when the clinical score was correlated with IFABP (r = 0.857), TFF-3 (r = 0.856) and IAP (r = 0.749).

Conclusion: A positive correlation of LPO with intestinal injury biomarkers suggests a possible link between lipid peroxidation and the severity of intestinal injury and clinical signs associated with CPVGE. A positive correlation of clinical score with intestinal biomarkers indicates that these biomarkers have the potential to assess the disease severity in CPVGE. However, further validation in a large population may be needed for their clinical applicability.