title: Development of correction formulas for canine and feline urine specific gravity measured using a Japanese refractometer.
abstract: One of the most important functions of the kidney is to concentrate urine through the reabsorption of water. Urine specific gravity (USG) is used in routine tests of urine concentration and can be estimated using a refractometer. However, as the scale of Japanese refractometer is based on experimental data from healthy Japanese people, and human USG obtained by Japanese refractometers show higher values than that by refractometer produced in Europe or the U.S.A. The purpose of this study was to establish correction formulas for the USG of dogs and cats measured using Japanese refractometers. In this study, we found that Japanese refractometers overestimated USG in both dogs and cats. This study shows that the correlation formulas described in this study are useful for the accurate evaluation of USG.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Integrative Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, Musashino City, Tokyo, Japan. newichi.new@gmail.com
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyagawa
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toda
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takemura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats / Q000652:urine*; D004285:Dogs / Q000652:urine*; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013046:Specific Gravity; D016482:Urinalysis / Q000662:veterinary*; D014556:Urine / Q000737:chemistry*