C-Peptides for diagnostics and therapy: A veterinary medicine point of view

Abstract

Empirical studies proved that C-peptides are performing numerous intrinsic biologicalroles, and serve as a marker for pancreatic performance analysis. Since the last decade,C-peptide assays for differential diagnosis in veterinary diabetic patients are becomingmore available, but still only for a very limited number of species. Studies on C-peptide asa diagnostic tool, therapy for associated complications, or as replacement therapies for C-peptide deficiency still showed not to be a common practice in veterinary medicine. This review was conducted to determine the potential importance of C-peptide in VeterinaryMedicine, relevant in the diagnosis of diabetes and for other metabolic processes, as wellas its proposed therapeutic benefits. Numerous articles were identified that reported positive results in their experimental studies, whether C-peptide as a biomarker for pancreaticperformance in dogs, cats, and horses, as a non-invasive method to monitor nutritional status in primates, or to investigate its potential therapeutic benefits for diabetes-related illnesses.