Correlation between plasma leptin concentration and body fat content in dogs.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relationship between plasma leptin concentration and body fat content in dogs.


METHODS
20 spayed female Beagles that were 10 months old at the start of the experiment.


METHODS
Dogs were kept under regulated feeding and exercise conditions for 21 weeks, resulting in a wide range of body weights, body condition scores (BCS), and subcutaneous thicknesses. Plasma leptin concentration was measured by use of a canine leptin-specific ELISA test to evaluate its correlation to body fat content estimated by the deuterium oxide dilution method. Plasma concentrations of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), and nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) were also measured.


RESULTS
Body fat content (9 to 60% of body weight) was positively and closely correlated (r = 0.920; n = 20; P < 0.001) to plasma leptin concentration (0.67 to 8.06 ng/ml), compared with other variables (ie, glucose, cholesterol, TG, and NEFA; r = 0.142, 0.412, 0.074, and 0.182, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The positive relationship between plasma leptin concentration and body fat content in dogs was similar to correlations reported for humans and rodents, suggesting that plasma leptin is a quantitative marker of adiposity in dogs.
Sagawa
Mayumi M
MM
Research Center, Nippon Pet Food Co, Ltd, 2020 Umeyama, Asaba, Shizuoka 437-1105, Japan.
Nakadomo
Fumio
F
Honjoh
Tsutomu
T
Ishioka
Katsumi
K
Saito
Masayuki
M
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001835:Body Weight; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood; D004285:Dogs / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000662:veterinary
D015415:Biomarkers; D020738:Leptin