title: Investigation of the association between whole blood and tissue taurine levels and the development of thoracic deformities in neonatal Burmese kittens.
abstract: Flat chests, characterised by a dorsoventral flattening of the rib cage, affect 3 to 4 per cent of all Burmese kittens born in the United Kingdom. Similar deformities have been reported in kittens born to taurine-depleted queens. In an investigation of whether there might be a relationship between whole blood taurine levels and the appearance of flat chests it was found that Burmese kittens had significantly (P < 0.05) higher whole blood taurine levels than Burmese queens. In addition, flat-chested Burmese kittens had higher mean (sd) levels (789 [189] mumol/litre) than unaffected Burmese kittens (702 [166] mumol/litre) and non-Burmese kittens (597 [93] mumol/litre), although these differences were not statistically significant. Higher levels of taurine were found in the skeletal muscle and lower levels in the heart muscle of the flat-chested Burmese kittens than in normal non-Burmese kittens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Sturgess
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Gruffydd-Jones
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Nott
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Earle
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D002415:Cats / Q000002:abnormalities*; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D005660:Funnel Chest / Q000097:blood / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013654:Taurine / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013654:Taurine