Serum concentrations of pepsinogen A in healthy dogs after food deprivation and after feeding

Objective - To develop and validate an ELISA for measurement of serum canine pepsinogen A (cPG A) as a diagnostic marker of gastric disorders in dogs and to measure serum cPG A in healthy dogs after food deprivation and after feeding. Sample Population - Sera from 72 healthy dogs. Procedure - A sandwich ELISA was developed and validated. The reference range for serum concentrations of cPG A was determined in 64 healthy dogs. Postprandial changes in serum concentrations of cPG A were evaluated in 8 healthy dogs. Results - Assay sensitivity was 18 μg/L, and the maximum detectable concentration was 1,080 μg/L. The observed-to-expected ratio (O:E) for 3 serial dilutions of 3 serum samples ranged from 69.3 to 104.1%. The O:E for 3 serum samples spiked with 8 concentrations of cPG A ranged from 58.8 to 120.4%. Coefficients of variation for intra- and interassay variability of 3 serum samples ranged from 7.6 to 11.9% and from 10.1 to 13.1%, respectively. Mean ± SD serum concentration of cPG A in healthy dogs was 63.8 ± 31.0 μg/L and the reference range was 18 to 129 μg/L. Significant increases in serum concentrations of cPG A were observed between 1 and 7 hours after feeding. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance - The ELISA for measuring cPG A was sufficiently sensitive, linear, accurate, precise, and reproducible for clinical use. Serum concentrations of cPG A increase substantially after feeding, which should be taken into account when conducting clinical studies.