Vitamins and Vitamin-like Compounds in Severe Canine Periodontal Disease: A Prospective Exploratory Cross-Sectional...

Vitamins and vitamin-like compounds are critical in human periodontitis pathogenesis. Limited reports on vitamin alterations in canine periodontal disease (PD) are available. A prospective, exploratory, cross-sectional pilot study evaluating plasma concentrations of vitamins and vitamin-like compounds by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was undertaken. The test cohort included 17 dogs with severe periodontitis, in at least two quadrants, and eight periodontally healthy control dogs seen for non-periodontal oral conditions. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the canine patients enrolled in this private specialty practice pilot study. After adjustment for multiple comparisons, only vitamin B9 (folate) was significantly associated with severe PD, with geometric mean concentrations approximately 28% lower in dogs with severe PD than in controls (0.00139 vs. 0.00193 μmol/L; adjusted p = 0.006). In exploratory unadjusted analyses, several additional metabolites had lower geometric mean concentrations in dogs with severe PD. Given the small and unbalanced sample and the inability to standardize diet, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary. Further investigation in larger, prospective, diet-controlled studies integrating vitamin profiling, metabolomics, and the oral microbiome is warranted.