Plasma glucagon-like peptide-2 in cats with chronic enteropathies

The objective of this study was to compare plasma glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) concentrations in cats with chronic enteropathies (CE) with those of healthy cats.

Nineteen client-owned cats with a histopathologic diagnosis of either idiopathic chronic enteropathy (CIE) or low-grade lymphoma and six healthy client-owned cats were enrolled in a prospective study between 2 December 2021 and 9 June 2023. Fasted and postprandial plasma GLP-2 concentrations were measured via ELISA in CE cats at the time gastrointestinal biopsies were obtained and before CE treatment. In cats with a histopathologic diagnosis of CIE, plasma GLP-2 concentrations were re-evaluated after 1 month of CE treatment.

There was no significant difference in plasma GLP-2 concentrations between healthy cats (0.53 ng/ml) and cats with CE (0.52 ng/ml). GLP-2 concentrations in cats with CIE were not significantly different following 1 month of treatment (0.43 ng/ml) from those at initial presentation (0.44 ng/ml).

GLP-2 can be successfully detected in the plasma of cats with CE. Based on the lack of differences observed between this population of CE cats and healthy cats, GLP-2 cannot be recommended as a biomarker of feline CE using this ELISA method. Further investigation of larger CE cat populations and analytic methods would be needed to determine the overall utility of GLP-2 evaluation in feline CE.