Evaluation of assays for perinuclear antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies and antibodies to Saccharomyces cerevisiae in dogs with inflammatory bowel disease.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the use of immunofluorescence asssays for perinuclear antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies (pANCAs) and antibodies to Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ASCAs) in dogs with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and assess the clinical value of these serologic markers of the disease.


METHODS
39 dogs with IBD, 18 dogs with acute diarrhea, 19 dogs with chronic non-IBD-associated diarrhea, 26 healthy dogs of various breeds and age, and 22 healthy young working dogs.


METHODS
Sera obtained from the dogs in each group were added to canine granulocyte- and Saccharomyces cerevisiae-mounted slides for detection of pANCAs and ASCAs via immunofluorescence techniques. Sensitivity and specificity (with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) were calculated for the group of dogs with IBD versus each of the 2 groups of healthy dogs, the group of dogs with acute diarrhea, and the group of dogs with chronic non-IBD-associated diarrhea.


RESULTS
Among the 39 dogs with IBD, 20 yielded positive results via the pANCA assay (sensitivity, 0.51 [95% CI, 0.35 to 0.67]) and 17 yielded positive results via the ASCA assay (sensitivity, 0.44 [95% CI, 0.22 to 0.69]). The specificity of the pANCA assay in the 4 groups of non-IBD-affected dogs ranged from 0.83 (95% CI, 0.85 to 0.96) to 0.95 (95% CI, 0.72 to 1.00).


CONCLUSIONS
Immunofluorescence assays for pANCA and ASCA appear to be useful for the detection of IBD in dogs. The pANCA immunofluorescence assay had high specificity for canine IBD, and pANCAs appear to be accurate markers of intestinal inflammation.
Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
Karin
K
Allenspach
Nicole
N
Luckschander
Maya
M
Styner
Frank
F
Seibold
Marcus
M
Doherr
D
D
Aeschbach
Frédéric
F
Gaschen
D000818:Animals; D019268:Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic / Q000276:immunology*; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal / Q000276:immunology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000379:methods*; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000276:immunology*
D019268:Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal; D015415:Biomarkers