INVESTIGATIONS INTO HYPERLIPIDEMIA AND ITS POSSIBLE ...

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The diagnosis of pancreatitis was based on: a) the presence of compatible
historical findings of at least 2 of the following clinical signs (vomiting, anorexia,
depression, abdominal pain, or diarrhea) and b) a serum Spec cPL ® concentration ≥400
μg/L (the currently recommended cut-off value for pancreatitis). 178,180 Although dogs
with concurrent diseases or those receiving medications that might affect lipid
metabolism were initially included in this group in order to determine the overall
prevalence of hyperlipidemia in this group, they were subsequently excluded from the
analysis and only dogs that had pancreatitis without any recognized risk factors for
hyperlipidemia were eventually included in this group. These dogs were designated as
Group 1. Dogs with hyperlipidemia secondary to diseases other than pancreatitis or
medications 252 were identified based on the clinical history, physical examination, and
results from the serum chemistry profile (without the results for serum cholesterol and
triglyceride concentrations) and specific tests (such as serum total and free T4
concentrations).
Healthy control dogs (Group 2)
Healthy dogs were enrolled into the study and served as controls. The dogs
belonged to students and staff of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences at Texas A&M University. The owners were asked to complete a questionnaire
for each dog. Questions covered date of birth, sex and sexual status, body-weight and
BCS, current diet(s), current medications, and the current and past health history of the
dogs. Questionnaires from all dogs were reviewed to determine whether the dogs fit the