Bottom ultrasonography in dogs with acute renal injury: Prospective assessments focusing the bottom-renal axis

Objective: There is an association between intestinal dysbiosis and the pathophysiology of renal diseases due to the connection between the gastrointestinal system and the kidney. In this context, it is aimed to determine the renal and intestinal relationship in dogs with acute renal injury ultrasonographically and to reveal whether ultrasonographic intestinal data will be an early indicator of acute renal injury. Material and Methods: A total of 64 dogs of both sexes and different ages (age range 1-13), healthy, diagnosed with naturally occurring acute renal damage and without any complaints, were included in the study. The first group (n=24) consisted of healthy dogs who were brought to the clinic for vaccination or health check-ups, without any abnormality in their clinical and laboratory evaluations, and the second group (n=24) consisted of healthy dogs with subclinical acute renal injury (ARH) whose creatinine values were within normal limits and Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) values were high (n=33), and the third group consisted of dogs with ARH associated with tubular damage and high creatine and NGAL values (n=7). Results: It was determined that there was no significant increase trend between NGAL changes and left kidney/aorta measurements in both the group with the diagnosis of ARD associated with tubular damage and the groups with the diagnosis of subclinical ARD. A strong significant (p<0.001) trend was found between patients with subclinical ARH, ARH creatinine levels associated with tubular damage, and patients with ARH associated with tubular damage and the healthy group. In patients with ARH associated with tubular damage, colon 3.3±0.1 mm, duodenum 5.1±0.4 mm, jejunum 4.4 ± 0.3 mm, while in patients included in the subclinical ARH group, the wall thicknesses were colon 3.8±0.2 mm, duodenum 5.5±0.2 mm, jejenum 4.6±10.8. It was determined in mm. When the renal-intestinal relationship was evaluated, only intestinal changes in dogs with subclinical ARH were found to be significant compared to healthy colon <0.001, duodenum p<0.01 and jejenum p<0.05. Conclusion: An increase in intestinal wall thickness has been observed in dogs with ARH. These results support kidney-intestinal communication in dogs.