Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine serum and colonic monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) concentration in dogs with plasmacytic-lymphocytic (PL) colitis, as well as to demonstrate if the concentration of MCP-1 may be an accurate diagnostic and prognostic marker for PL colitis in dogs receiving three different therapeutic protocols. Serum and colonic MCP-1 concentration were measured in 18 dogs with PL colitis and in 6 controls. Dogs with PL colitis were randomly divided in 3 groups and for a period of 30 days received the following: Group 1, sulfasalazine, prednisone and placebo; Group 2, placebo and Ω3/Ω6 fatty acids, and Group 3, sulfasalazine, prednisone and Ω3/Ω6 fatty acids. Colonic and serum MCP-1 concentration were determined at the beginning and at the end of this period. Serum MCP-1 concentrations at the beginning were not significantly increased in dogs with PL colitis compared to the controls. On the contrary, colonic tissue MCP-1 concentrations at the beginning were significantly increased in the same dogs compared to the controls. Moreover, the colonic tissue MCP-1 concentration in the dogs of group 3 was significantly decreased (P<0.001) at the end of the experiment. The same observations were obtained from dogs of groups 1 and 2, in which the colonic MCP-1 concentration also significantly decreased (P<0.01). These data demonstrate that in canine PL colitis, colonic MCP-1 concentration is increased in comparison to those of controls and suggest that the colonic MCP-1 concentration may aid in the diagnosis of canine PL colitis.