title: The influence of sex on biochemical markers of bone turnover in dogs.
abstract: Biochemical markers of bone turnover have been shown to be useful as inexpensive and noninvasive tools for monitoring skeletal health. The reference range for bone markers in dogs has been set by different age groups. However, other sources of biological variations were not fully investigated in dogs. To explore whether sex influences the interpretation of bone marker data we examined serum bone markers in 33 male and 25 female dogs. The bone markers selected for this study were: bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP) and osteocalcin (OC) as indicators of bone formation, and C-terminal telopeptide (CTx) of type I collagen as marker of bone resorption. All concentrations of bone markers were lower, but still within the reference range reported for dogs. We found statistically significant differences of the median OC and CTx serum concentrations between males and females. The results of this study suggest that there are sex differences in biochemical markers of bone turnover in dogs which should be considered in interpretation of bone marker data.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, Zagreb, Croatia. mbelic@vef.hr
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belić
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kušec
authors.forename: Ante
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Svetina
authors.forename: Juraj
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grizelj
authors.forename: Mirna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robić
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Vrbanac
authors.forename: Marijan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benić
authors.forename: Romana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Turk
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism*; D004285:Dogs / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D015675:Osteocalcin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015675:Osteocalcin; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase