INVESTIGATIONS INTO HYPERLIPIDEMIA AND ITS POSSIBLE ...

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therapy when the latter fails to lower serum triglyceride concentrations below 500
mg/dL. 34,49
Niacin is a vitamin that has been used successfully for the treatment of
hyperlipidemia in humans for many years. 138 In dogs, niacin treatment has been reported
in very few patients with primary hypertriglyceridemia. Niacin reduced serum
triglyceride concentrations for several months without causing any side effects. 31,34,49
However, large clinical trials regarding the efficacy and safety of niacin in dogs with
primary hypertriglyceridemia are lacking. As is the case in humans, niacin
administration in dogs is potentially associated with side effects such as erythema and
pruritus. 34,138 Niacin is usually administered at a dose of 25-100 mg/day. 34
Pancreatitis in dogs
History of the study of pancreatitis in dogs
The first known studies that involved the canine pancreas were reported several
centuries ago. In 1682, J. C. Brunner published his book Experimenta Nova Circa
Pancrease, in which he described his interesting experiments on dogs, in an effort to
determine the role the pancreas in digestion. 139
Since then, several other studies,
including the famous work published by J.P. Pawlow in 1897 entitled The Work of the
Digestive Glands, have investigated mainly the function of the canine pancreas, but
always as model for understanding human pancreatic physiology. 139
Although
pathologic conditions of the human pancreas (most likely representing inflammatory
diseases of the pancreas) had been noticed and described in antiquity, centuries before