Objectives

Assessment of renal function in patients with renal disease has a great importance. Various studies have reported about cystatin C as an easy and rapid assessable marker that can be used for accurate information on renal function impairment in humans lastly, but we have found only one study in dogs.

Material & Methods

For this reason in this study, the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 dogs of different breeds with a broad range of bodyweight were evaluated by using serum cystatin C to determine its usefulness as a marker. Ten dogs which formed the control group, and 20 dogs which had elevated serum creatinine levels and a low urine specific gravity due to renal disease, constituted the study material.

Results

The range of serum cystatin C values was 1,2±0,42 mg/L in control dogs, 2,96±1,09 mg/L in dogs with azotaemic renal disease (p<0,01).

Conclusion

The study indicates that, endogenous markers of GFR are more advantageous such as cheap and simple, and more accurate, rapid and reliable tool for evaluating GFR in small animal practice.