Cardiac biomarker concentrations in cats with elevated pancreatic lipase concentrations.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cardiac biomarker concentrations are elevated in dogs with pancreatitis, but it is unknown if this is also the case for cats. METHODS: The serum feline pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity (fPLI) of serum samples from 60 cats was quantified using the Spec fPL assay. Serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (HST) concentrations were also measured using commercial assays. RESULTS: Five of 20 cats with fPLI concentrations of 8.8 mg/L or more had above reference interval NT-proBNP concentrations. Serum NT-proBNP concentrations were not correlated with fPLI concentrations (p = 0.31) and were not different in each diagnostic category for fPLI results (p = 0.24). Serum HST concentrations were positively correlated with fPLI concentrations (r = 0.278, 95% confidence interval 0.02‒0.50, p = 0.03). However, they were not significantly different in each diagnostic category for fPLI results (p = 0.16). LIMITATIONS: Unidentified co-variates could contribute to the association between fPLI and cardiac biomarker concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Cats with elevated fPLI concentrations may have elevated cardiac biomarker concentrations.