Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7054, Uppsala, 75007, Sweden.
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7011, Uppsala, 75007, Sweden.
BMC Vet Res. 2024 Sep 13;20(1):411. doi: 10.1186/s12917-024-04271-w.
Sepsis, defined as a dysregulated inflammatory response to infection inducing organ dysfunction, is a common cause of mortality in both humans and animals. Early detection and treatment is essential for survival, but accurate diagnosis is challenging due to the lack of specific biomarkers for sepsis. This study explored the potential of the keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC)-like protein in dogs as a biomarker of sepsis in dogs with bacterial uterine infection (pyometra). The aim was to compare KC-like concentrations in dogs with pyometra with or without sepsis and to assess associations between KC-like and clinical variables, including days of hospitalization as an outcome.
A mouse KC ELISA was validated and used to determine the concentrations of KC-like in serum from 34 dogs with pyometra and 18 healthy controls. Dogs with pyometra were classified as having sepsis based on two different criteria for systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), resulting in 74% and 30% sepsis-positive, respectively. The concentration of KC-like protein was higher in pyometra dogs with sepsis than in pyometra dogs without sepsis (p < 0.05) and in healthy controls (p < 0.0001) when using either of the two SIRS criteria. Moreover, KC-like was slightly increased in dogs with pyometra without sepsis compared with healthy controls when using the more stringent SIRS criteria (p < 0.05). Analyses of all dogs showed that KC-like concentrations correlated positively with hospitalization days, C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations, white blood cells, and percentage of band neutrophils; however, KC-like correlated negatively with hemoglobin and did not correlate with circulating creatinine.
Our results suggest that circulating KC-like protein increases in dogs with sepsis in pyometra and that KC-like is associated with more severe clinical illness. These findings support a potential role of KC-like as a biomarker of sepsis; however, the true identity of KC-like in dogs has yet to be uncovered.
败血症是一种由感染引起的炎症反应失调导致器官功能障碍的疾病，是人类和动物死亡的常见原因。早期发现和治疗是生存的关键，但由于缺乏败血症的特异性生物标志物，准确诊断具有挑战性。本研究探讨了犬角蛋白衍生趋化因子（KC）样蛋白作为细菌子宫感染（脓毒症）犬败血症生物标志物的潜力。目的是比较脓毒症犬和无脓毒症犬 KC 样浓度，并评估 KC 样与临床变量之间的相关性，包括住院天数作为结局。
验证了一种小鼠 KC ELISA，并用于确定 34 只脓毒症犬和 18 只健康对照犬血清中 KC 样浓度。根据全身炎症反应综合征（SIRS）的两个不同标准，将脓毒症犬分为败血症阳性和阴性，分别为 74%和 30%。当使用这两个 SIRS 标准中的任何一个时，脓毒症犬的 KC 样蛋白浓度高于无脓毒症的脓毒症犬（p < 0.05）和健康对照组（p < 0.0001）。当使用更严格的 SIRS 标准时，与健康对照组相比，无脓毒症的脓毒症犬的 KC 样略有增加（p < 0.05）。对所有犬的分析表明，KC 样浓度与住院天数、C 反应蛋白（CRP）浓度、白细胞和带核中性粒细胞百分比呈正相关；然而，KC 样与血红蛋白呈负相关，与循环肌酐无关。
我们的结果表明，脓毒症犬败血症中循环 KC 样蛋白增加，KC 样与更严重的临床疾病相关。这些发现支持 KC 样作为败血症生物标志物的潜在作用；然而，犬 KC 样的真实身份尚未被揭示。
