Evaluation of perinuclear antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies in sera from dogs with inflammatory bowel disease or intestinal lymphoma

Abstract

Objective-To assess and compare the expression of perinuclear antineutrophilic cytoplasmicantibodies (pANCA) in sera obtained from dogs with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)and dogs with intestinal lymphoma. Animals-104 dogs with IBD and 23 dogs with intestinal lymphoma.Procedures-Each ill dog had persistent gastrointestinal signs (> 3 weeks in duration) andabsence of response to diet changes or antimicrobial treatments. Gastrointestinal endoscopywas performed in ill dogs to obtain intestinal biopsy specimens for histologic confirmationof IBD or lymphoma. A serum sample was obtained from each ill dog. Neutrophilswere isolated from a blood sample from the healthy dog; neutrophil-bearing slides wereincubated with serum from each ill dog and examined for expression of pANCA by use ofan indirect immunofluorescence technique. Detection of cells that had a perinuclear fluorescencepattern was considered a positive result. Results-The 2 groups of dogs did not differ with regard to breed and sex but did differ withregard to age. Expression of pANCA was detected in 38 of the 104 (36.5%) dogs with IBDand 4 of the 23 (17.4%) dogs with intestinal lymphoma. Although the frequency of pANCAexpression was higher in dogs with IBD, compared with findings in dogs with intestinallymphoma, the difference was not significant. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Results indicated that circulating pANCA are presentin some dogs with IBD or intestinal lymphoma. However, pANCA detection does notseem to be useful for distinguishing dogs with IBD from dogs with intestinal lymphoma.