Abstract
BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of gastric ulcers by methods other than gastroscopy in dogs has been problematic for many years and biomarkers such as serum gastrin (SG) concentrations have been introduced as a noninvasive way to evaluate gastric diseases. OBJECTIVES: To determine the time course changes in hematology, SG concentrations, and gastroscopic images of meloxicam-induced gastric ulceration in dogs and identify a relationship between SG and gastroscopic image analysis in a clinical setting. ANIMALS: Fifteen crossbreed dogs. METHODS: Two groups: control (n = 5) and meloxicam-treated (n = 10). The meloxicam-treated group received meloxicam 0.2 mg/kg PO for 15 days. Clinical signs, hematology, SG, and image analysis (PI, pixel intensity; ID, integrated density; RA, relative area; and UI, ulcer index) of the gastroscopic examination were evaluated across time (T5, time 5 day; T10, time 10 day; and T15, time 15 day). RESULTS: Significant changes were observed among 3 time points and between the 2 groups in terms of SG, hematology, and gastroscopic image analysis. In the meloxicam-treated group, decreases in hemoglobin concentration, red blood cell count and packed cell volume at T10 and T15 (P = .0001) were observed, whereas SG, ID, and UI increased over time (P < .0001). The PI decreased significantly (P = .0001) in the meloxicam-treated group compared to controls. Significant correlations were found between SG and PI, and ID and ulcer area (r = -0.89, 0.81, 0.64), respectively. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Gastroscopy is the gold standard for early descriptive diagnosis of gastric ulcerations in dogs, and SG is a good indicator for meloxicam-induced gastric ulcers in dogs and can predict the gastroscopic score of the lesion.