title: Efficacy of plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate concentration as a marker for diabetes mellitus in acutely sick cats.
abstract: Urine ketone measurement is routinely performed in cats with diabetes mellitus to identify impending or established ketoacidosis. Studies using the urinary ketone dipstick test have shown that ketonuria is common in cats with newly diagnosed untreated diabetes mellitus. This test has a low sensitivity as it quantifies the less abundant ketone acetoacetate. The objective of the present study was to determine if ketonaemia is an inherent biochemical finding in untreated feline diabetes mellitus by measuring plasma ss-hydroxybutyrate (ss-OHB) in acutely sick cats. In 122 sick cats (37 diabetic and 85 non-diabetic cats) plasma ss-OHB, glucose, fructosamine, total protein and thyroxine were measured as part of the routine work up. Diabetic cats had significantly elevated ss-OHB values and ss-OHB measurement was a sensitive and specific test to identify diabetes mellitus. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.93. The cut off value with the highest positive likelihood ratio was 0.58 mmol/l. These results suggest that determination of plasma ss-OHB concentration is a useful method to distinguish between diabetic and non-diabetic sick cats.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Small Animals and Infectious Diseases, Department for Companion Animals and Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz, 1210 Vienna, Austria. f.zeugswetter@vetmeduni.ac.at
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zeugswetter
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Handl
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Iben
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schwendenwein
mesh_terms: D020155:3-Hydroxybutyric Acid / Q000097:blood*; D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D002415:Cats; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D016883:Diabetic Ketoacidosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D007659:Ketones / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001786:Blood Glucose; D007659:Ketones; D020155:3-Hydroxybutyric Acid