Research Communications of the 24th ECVIM-CA Congress

Serum citrulline was measured in 49 dogs with CE and 69 controls. 17 dogs responded to dietary manipulation (food-responsive enteropathy, FRE) and 3 responded to antibacterials (antibiotic-responsive diarrhoea, ARD), with a further 2 having invasive mucosal bacteria, of which one responded to antibacterials and one was refractory. 27 dogs were diagnosed with idiopathic IBD (on the basis of exclusion of known causes and failure to respond to therapeutic dietary and antibiotic trials), of which 12 responded to immunosuppressive therapy, 13 were refractory, and 2 were lost to follow-up. Serum citrulline concentration did not differ between dogs with CE (median 8.5 lg/mL, range 1.4-20.6) and controls (median 8.2 lg/mL, range, 1.2-34.9, P = 0.96). There was also no difference in serum citrulline concentration amongst dogs with FRE, ARD, IBD, and controls (P = 0.48). Serum citrulline did not differ between dogs that responded well, or were refractory to treatment (P = 0.39), between 23 dogs with and 26 without protein-losing enteropathy (P = 0.67), or between 35 dogs that survived and 8 that were euthanased because of CE (P = 0.65). Serum citrulline did not correlate with CIBDAI (r 2 = 0.10).