Plasma Concentrations of Glucagon and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Are Reduced in Dogs with Aminoaciduric Canine Hypoaminoacidemic Hepatopathy Syndrome Versus Healthy Dogs: a Preliminary Study

OBJECTIVE To compare plasma concentrations of glucagon and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) between healthy dogs and dogs with aminoaciduric canine hypoaminoacidemic hepatopathy syndrome (ACHES) dogs. ANIMALS Privately owned healthy (n = 5) control (CON) and ACHES (8; including 3 with diabetes mellitus) dogs enrolled between October 2, 2019, and March 4, 2020. PROCEDURES This was a prospective case-control study. Fasting and 15-minute postprandial plasma glucagon total GLP-1 concentrations were measured with commercial immunoassays. RESULTS Dogs with ACHES had lower fasting (median, 0.5; mean difference, 3.8; 95% CI, 0.52 to 7.0 pmol/L; P = .021) and postprandial (median, 0.35; mean difference, 5.0; 95% CI, 1.8 to 8.3 pmol/L; P = .002) plasma glucagon concentrations than CON (fasting and postprandial medians, 3.5 and 4.6 pmol/L, respectively). ACHES dogs had significantly (median, 4.15; mean difference, 12.65; 95% CI, 2.0 to 16.3 pg/ml; P = .011) lower postprandial plasma GLP-1 concentrations than CON (median, 16.8 pg/ml). There was no significant difference between fasting GLP-1 levels between the 2 groups. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Lower postprandial plasma GLP-1 concentrations may contribute to the propensity of diabetes mellitus in ACHES. Lower glucagon concentrations may reflect an appropriate physiologic response to hypoaminoacidemia.