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Updated: Sep 30, 2025
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Published on: August 7, 2021
Symmetrical Dimethylarginine as a Diagnostic Parameter in Hermann's Tortoises (Testudo hermanni)
Verena Lehmann1, Barblin Altherr2, Nikola Pantchev2
1Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Background:
Despite improvements in habitational conditions, kidney disease is relatively common in tortoises.
Objectives:
Purpose of this study was the establishment of Symmetrical dimethylarginine (SDMA) reference values for clinically healthy Hermann's Tortoises.
Animals:
Clinically healthy Hermann's Tortoises (n = 131) were included in the period from October 2017 to September 2019.
Methods:
Creatinine and other biomarkers were tested at IDEXX Laboratories, Germany using residual blood samples from Hermann's tortoises. SDMA was measured with the IDEXX test and verified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry at IDEXX Laboratories, USA.
Results:
SDMA values ranged from 1 to 21 μg/dl (n = 131) for the IDEXX SDMA Test and SDMA values ranged from 1 to 17 μg/dl (n = 82) for LC-MS. For the comparison of the two measuring systems, the following results were obtained R 2 = 0.75 (p < 0.001).
Conclusion And Clinical Importance:
SDMA can be measured in Hermann's Tortoises and the reference values range in clinically healthy animals is comparable to that of dogs and cats.
