Determination of the serum zinc level in urban and rural dogs of Ahvaz district, Southwestern Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

3 DVM Graduated, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

    Zinc is one of the most important nutrients in determining the appearance of the coat in dogs. Zinc deficiency occurs, most commonly as zinc responsive dermatosis, but zinc toxicity rarely occurs. The present study was conducted to detect the level of serum zinc concentration in urban and rural dogs of Ahvaz district, by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. A total of 250 serum samples of urban and rural dogs (clinically healthy) with different ages were randomly obtained. The classification was made by age, sex, breed and location. The dogs were divided into three groups based on age (≤1 year, 1-3 years and ≥3 years). The mean and standard deviation of zinc concentration was 1.21±0.04 mg/l in the studied dog's population. The frequency distribution of zinc showed that serum concentrations were 1.36±0.06 and 1.05±0.05 mg/l in urban and rural dogs respectively. The mean and standard deviation of zinc was in the normal range in all samples (1.21±0.04; 95% CI: 0.87-1.42). Serum zinc concentration was significantly higher in urban than rural dogs. Zinc concentration didn’t show a significant difference for different ages (1.16±0.09 less than one year, 1.15±0.06 between 1-3 years and 1.27±0.07 above 3 years), gender (1.41±0.10 in males and 1.33±0.08 for females in urban dogs and 1.06±0.07 in males and 1.03±0.08 for females in rural dogs), and breed (the most level in Boxer breed= 1.42±0.60 and the least level in Bulldog breed= 0.87±0.18). The present survey showed that the serum zinc concentration was significantly higher in the urban than rural dogs which are probably due to the better diet.

Keywords

References

Beigh, S.A.; Iqbal, R.; Bhat, A.M. and Ishfaq, A. (2017). Management of zinc responsive dermatitis in dogs. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 5(6): 2569-2571.
Bexfield, N.; Archer, J. and Herrtage, M. (2007). Heinz body haemolytic anaemia in a dog secondary to ingestion of a zinc toy: a case report. Veterinary Journal, 174(2): 414-417.
Bischoff, K.; Chiapella, A.; Weisman, J.; Crofton, L.M. and Hillebrandt, J. (2017). Zinc toxicosis in a Boxer dog secondary to ingestion of holiday garland. Journal of Medical Toxicology, 13(3): 263-266.
Campbell, G.A. and Crow, D. (2010). Severe zinc responsive dermatosis in a litter of Pharaoh Hounds. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, 22(4): 663-666.
Colombini, S. (1999). Canine zinc-responsive dermatosis. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Small Animal Practice, 29(6): 1373-1383.
Evans, P. and Halliwell, B. (2001). Micronutrients: oxidant/antioxidant status. The British Journal of Nutrition, 85(2): 67-74.
Favier, A.E.; Neve, J. and Faure, P. (1994). Trace elements and free radicals in oxidative diseases, 1st ed. Champaign, Illinois, Pp: 136-140.

Hensel, P. (2010). Nutrition and skin diseases in veterinary medicine. Clinics in Dermatology, 28(6): 686-693.

Jezyk, P.F.; Haskins, M.E.; MacKay-Smith, W.E. and Patterson, D.F. (1986). Lethal acrodermatitis in bull terriers. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 188(8): 833-839.
Kearns, K.; Sleeman, J.; Frank, L. and Munson, L. (2000). Zinc-responsive dermatosis in a red wolf (canis rufus).  Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 31(2): 255-258.
Mc Ewan, N.A.; McNeil, P.E.; Thompson, H. and Mc Candlish, I.A. (2000). Diagnostic features, confirmation and disease progression in 28 cases of lethal acrodermatitis of bull terriers.  The Journal of Small Animal Practice, 41(11): 501-507.
Mosallanejad, B. and Avizeh, R. (2012). The possible role of zinc in excessive shedding of hair in two Persian cats. Comparative Clinical Pathology, 21(2): 213-215.
Peters, J.; Scott, D.W.; Erb, H.N. and Miller, W.H. (2003). Hereditary nasal parakeratosis in Labrador retrievers: 11 new cases and a retrospective study on the presence of accumulations of serum (serum lakes) in the epidermis of parakeratotic dermatoses and inflamed nasal plana of dogs. Veterinary Dermatology, 14(4): 197-203.
Romanucci, M.; Bongiovanni, L.; Russo, A.;  Capuccini, S.; Mechelli, L.; Ordeix, L. and Leonardo, D.S. (2011). Oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of canine zinc-responsive dermatosis. Veterinary Dermatology, 22(1): 31-38.
Scott, D.W.; William, H.M. and Griffin, C.E. (2001). Nutritional skin diseases. In: Muller and Kirk’s Small Animal Dermatology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, WB Saunders, Pp: 891-901.
Siow, J.W. (2018). Zinc toxicosis in a dog secondary to prolonged zinc oxide ingestion. Open Veterinary Journal, 8(4): 458-462.
Tilley, L.P. and Smith, F.W.K. (2005). The 5-minute veterinary consult, 3rd ed. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Maryland, Pp: 1322.
Uchida, Y.; Moon-Fanelli, A.A. and Dodman, N.H. (1997). Serum concentrations of zinc and copper in bull terriers with lethal acrodermatitis and tail-chasing behavior. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 58(8): 808-810.
Van den Broek, A.H.M. and Thoday, K.L. (1986). Skin disease in dogs associated with zinc deficiency: a report of five cases. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 27(5): 313-323.
Watson, T.D.G. (1998). Diet and Skin Disease in Dogs and Cats. The Journal of Nutrition, 128(12): 2783-2789.
White, S.D.; Bourdeau, P.; Rosychuk, R.A.; Cohen, B.; Bonenberger, T.; Fieseler, K.V. et al. (2001). Zinc-responsive dermatosis in dogs: 41 cases and literature review. Veterinary Dermatology, 12(2): 101-109.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics