Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States of America.
Department of Molecular Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2020 May 15;15(5):e0233206. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233206. eCollection 2020.
A surge in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) consumer complaints identified concerns that legume-rich, grain-free diets were associated with nutritionally-mediated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Golden retrievers represent the most reported breed affected by this condition and previous studies documented the disease is responsive to dietary change and taurine supplementation. Although dietary findings across cases are compelling, prospective studies with control groups are lacking. The role of diet in developing taurine deficiency and echocardiographic changes consistent with DCM in healthy dogs is unknown.
We hypothesized that golden retrievers eating non-traditional diets are at a higher risk of having taurine deficiency and nutritionally-mediated DCM compared with those eating traditional commercial diets. We aimed to compare taurine concentrations and echocardiographic indices of systolic function between golden retrievers in each diet group and elucidate associations between diet and these variables. Additionally, we aimed to generate breed-specific reference intervals for whole blood and plasma taurine concentrations.
86 golden retrievers.
Golden retrievers eating traditional or non-traditional diets were evaluated and diet history, taurine concentrations and echocardiographic data were collected. Dietary features, taurine concentrations and echocardiographic findings were compared between diet groups. Relative risks were calculated for the likelihood of echocardiographic abnormalities and taurine deficiency in each diet group. Breed-specific reference intervals were constructed for taurine concentrations in dogs from the traditional diet group.
Golden retrievers eating non-traditional diets had significantly lower taurine concentrations and more frequent systolic dysfunction. Breed specific reference intervals are higher than previously reported across breeds.
Non-traditional diets, which were typically grain-free and contained legumes in this study, were significantly associated with and have increased relative risk for the identification of taurine deficiency and echocardiographic abnormalities consistent with nutritionally-mediated DCM. These findings were identifiable in the absence of clinical signs and support the findings of multiple previous studies and the ongoing FDA investigation.
食品和药物管理局（FDA）收到的消费者投诉激增，表明人们担心富含豆类且不含谷物的饮食与营养介导的扩张型心肌病（DCM）有关。金毛猎犬是受这种情况影响最常见的品种，之前的研究记录表明，这种疾病对饮食改变和牛磺酸补充有反应。尽管跨病例的饮食发现令人信服，但缺乏对照的前瞻性研究。在健康犬中，饮食在牛磺酸缺乏和超声心动图变化与 DCM 一致中发挥的作用尚不清楚。
我们假设，与食用传统商业饮食的金毛猎犬相比，食用非传统饮食的金毛猎犬患牛磺酸缺乏症和营养介导的 DCM 的风险更高。我们旨在比较两组饮食的金毛猎犬之间牛磺酸浓度和收缩功能的超声心动图指数，并阐明饮食与这些变量之间的关联。此外，我们旨在为全血和血浆牛磺酸浓度生成特定品种的参考区间。
86 只金毛猎犬。
评估食用传统或非传统饮食的金毛猎犬，并收集饮食史、牛磺酸浓度和超声心动图数据。比较饮食组之间的饮食特征、牛磺酸浓度和超声心动图发现。计算每个饮食组发生超声心动图异常和牛磺酸缺乏的可能性的相对风险。为传统饮食组的犬构建了牛磺酸浓度的特定品种参考区间。
食用非传统饮食的金毛猎犬的牛磺酸浓度明显较低，收缩功能障碍更为常见。特定品种的参考区间高于以往跨品种的报道。
在本研究中，非传统饮食通常不含谷物且含有豆类，与牛磺酸缺乏和超声心动图异常一致的营养介导 DCM 显著相关且具有更高的相对风险。在没有临床症状的情况下可以识别这些发现，并支持多项先前的研究和正在进行的 FDA 调查的结果。
