PhD candidate Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO, United States
Abstract: Background– Serum acute phase proteins α-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP), serum amyloid A (SAA), and albumin:globulin (A:G), change with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) and may help monitor therapy response and detect FIP relapse. Hypothesis/Objectives– Determine if AGP, SAA, or A:G can aid in monitoring FIP cats on antiviral therapy and identifying relapses. Animals– Cats treated for novel (n = 15) or relapsing (n = 7) FIP. Methods– A commercial feline AGP assay (Shima, Tokyo, Japan) was modified for an automated biochemistry analyzer and analytic performance was verified. Longitudinal serum samples (T0, T4, T8, and T12 weeks) were evaluated for AGP, SAA, and electrophoresis derived A:G. Friedman’s or Mann-Whitney tests were used. Results– The AGP assay performed acceptably: coefficient of variation was < 8.1% and the assay was linear and reportable between 200-2000 mg/L (r2 = 0.99) with acceptable correlation with SAA (r2 = 0.75). SAA (mean = 52.9 mg/L) and AGP (mean = 2405 mg/L) were higher and A:G (mean = 0.52) was lower at novel T0 than novel T4, T8, or T12 (all p < 0.04;figure 1). Similar relationship existed between novel T0 and relapse T0 for SAA (relapse T0 mean = 8.5 mg/L), AGP (relapse T0 mean = 758 mg/L) and A:G (relapse T0 mean = 1.01), all p < 0.01. There was no statistical difference between novel T12 and relapse T0 (all p > 0.32;figure 2). Conclusions and clinical importance– AGP, SAA, and A:G were associated with therapy response in novel FIP but did not detect FIP relapse.
