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Virginia Tech

ADAMTS13 Activity in Dogs with Chronic Enteropathies

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Background: Chronic enteropathies (CE) predispose dogs to thromboembolic disease, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Humans with CE have decreased activity of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13), a von Willebrand factor (vWF) cleaving enzyme, and increased circulating vWF. The primary aim of this study is to assess plasma ADAMTS13 activity, vWF antigen (vWF:Ag) concentration, and vWF collagen binding activity (vWF:CBA) in dogs with CE. Hypotheses: Dogs with CE have reduced plasma ADAMTS13 activity, increased vWF:Ag, and increased vWF:CBA compared to healthy control dogs. Animals: Twenty privately-owned dogs with CE and 40 healthy dogs were recruited from a specialty hospital population. Methods: Prospective observational study. Dogs were confirmed to have CE using histopathology. ADAMTS13 activity was measured using a commercially available ELISA kit (DiapharmaⓇ) in 20 dogs with CE and 40 healthy control dogs. Plasma vWF:Ag was assessed in 20 dogs with CE and 20 healthy control dogs. Plasma vWF:CBA was assessed in 19 dogs with CE and 20 healthy control dogs. For statistical analysis, an unpaired t-test was used for normally distributed data and Wilcoxon rank sum was used for non-Gaussian distribution. Significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Plasma ADAMTS13 activity and vWF:Ag were not significantly different compared to healthy dogs (P = 0.07, P = 0.16, respectively). Plasma vWF:CBA was significantly decreased compared to healthy dogs (P = 0.007). Conclusions and clinical relevance: Plasma ADAMTS13 activity was not significantly different in dogs with CE compared to healthy dogs and is unlikely to be the primary mechanism for hypercoagulability associated with CE. Forty-three percent of CE dogs with hypoalbuminemia had ADAMTS13 activity below reference interval. Further studies are warranted to evaluate ADAMTS13 activity in a subset of dogs with CE, including those with protein losing enteropathy and thromboembolism.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences
Department dc:contributor.department
Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2023

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Barth, Samantha Irene
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Wilkinson, Ashley
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Demonaco, Stefanie
  • Boes, Katie Mae
  • Conner, Bobbi Jo

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:38286
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/116196

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Barth, Samantha Irene. ADAMTS13 Activity in Dogs with Chronic Enteropathies. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/116196