RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS OF THE 28th ECVIM-CA CONGRESS

Diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is usually achieved using urea and creatinine. However, it is well recognized that the disease is usually present before these biomarkers are elevated and other biomarkers such as neutrophil gelatinase‐associated lipocalin(NGAL) have been designed for earlier diagnosis. NGAL has been linked to tubular damage. NGAL has been observed to be altered in dogs with acute renal failure and idiopathic CKD. Canine leishmaniasis (CL) is a highly prevalent disease in many mediterranean countries. The kidney is one of the organs affected and evaluation of kidney function by the assessment of creatinine, urea and the degree of proteinuria together with the presence and severity of clinical signs are the key aspects for disease classification (LeishVet classfication) and therapeutic guidelines.