Diagnostic use of serum gamma-glutamyltransferase in canine liver disease

gamma-Glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity in canine kidney, pancreas, and liver is similar to previously reported values for other species. The low serum GGT activity in dogs (0 to 10 IU/L) may be related to relatively less liver GGT than in some other domestic animals. While determination of serum GGT in dogs may aid in the differentiation of sources of alkaline phosphatase, GGT alone appears to offer little in the diagnosis of canine liver disease. Clinical studies, as well as experimentally induced bile duct obstruction, have shown canine GGT increases to coincide with increases in alkaline phosphatase. The occasional benefit from knowledge of serum GGT in dogs would not seem to merit determination of GGT activity in routine serum chemistry panels for this species.