RESEARCH ARTICLES
Evaluation of serum mineral status in dermatological disorders of dogs
G. Srujana Sai, V. Babitha, V. Ramnath, V. Beena and N. Madhavan Unny
doi: https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2023.54.2.354-359
Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences.2023.54(2):354 - 359
Author Details
G. Srujana Sai : MVSc Scholar, Department of Veterinary Physiology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur-680 651, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India
V. Babitha : Associate Professor, Cattle Breeding Farm, Thumburmuzhy
V. Ramnath : Professor and Head, Department of Veterinary Physiology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur-680 651, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India
V. Beena : Professor, Department of Veterinary Physiology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur-680 651, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India
N. Madhavan Unny : Professor, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, Ethics and Jurisprudence, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur-680 651, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India
Article History
Received: 03.11.2022 Accepted: 23.01.2023 Published online: 30.06.2023
Corresponding author: V. Babitha
e-mail : babitha@kvasu.ac.in
Citation:Srujana G.S., Babitha V., Ramnath V., Beena V. and Madhavan Unny N. 2023. Evaluation of serum mineral status in dermatological disorders in dogs. J. Vet. Anim. Sci. 54(2):354-359
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2023.54.2.354-359
Abstract
The study was undertaken to evaluate serum mineral status, specifically zinc, copper and selenium in dogs affected with dermatological disorders in comparison to normal healthy dogs. The study included 40 dogs of 2-5 years of age with skin diseases presented to University Veterinary Hospitals at Mannuthy and Kokkalai under the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, and ten apparently healthy dogs brought to the hospital for routine health check-up which served as control. Serum concentrations of the three minerals were compared not only between normal and dogs with skin diseases as a whole but also between individual skin diseases- six different skin diseases- with the control group. On comparing the dogs with skin ailments (n=40) and control group, the serum mineral levels analysed through Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) revealed that the concentration of zinc was significantly lower (p<0.01) in the diseased group (0.53 ± 0.04 mg/L) of dogs (n=40) than the control group (1.11 ± 0.09 mg/L) and the serum copper concentration was also significantly reduced (p<0.05) in diseased dogs (0.91 ± 0.08 mg/L) with respect to the control animals (1.23 ± 0.11 mg/L). The serum selenium concentration of diseased group of animals(n=40), however failed to show any significant difference from the control group of animals. The outcome of the study suggests a need for supplementation of zinc and copper in dogs with skin ailments like canine demodicosis that relapse even after prolonged therapy with acaricides.
Keywords: Dog, skin diseases, deficiency, minerals, serum levels, copper, zinc, selenium
