Inflammatory and oxidative biomarkers of disease severity in dogs with parvoviral enteritis

OBJECTIVES To study changes in serum C‐reactive protein, haptoglobin, ceruloplasmin and albumin concentration, total anti‐oxidant capacity and paraoxonase‐1 and butyrylcholinesterase activity in dogs with parvoviral enteritis of different degrees of clinical severity. METHODS Prospective study of 9 healthy and 43 dogs with parvoviral enteritis that were classified into mildly, moderately and affected groups. RESULTS Dogs with parvoviral enteritis had a significant increase in C‐reactive protein compared with healthy dogs, with an increase of higher magnitude in animals with more severe clinical signs. All dogs with parvoviral enteritis had a significant increase in haptoglobin concentration compared with healthy dogs, but with no difference according to disease severity. There was a decrease in paraoxonase‐1 activity in parvoviral enteritis. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Major increases of C‐reactive protein concentrations in dogs with parvoviral enteritis are a marker of disease severity. In addition, higher values for anti‐oxidants in severe cases compared with mild and moderate cases suggest a possible compensatory anti‐oxidant mechanism.